Left dirt poor, UP migrants board train home
MOHALI : For 1,288 migrants, it was a route to freedom from hunger and helplessness, on Thursday, as the first special train ferrying migrant workers of Uttar Pradesh chugged off from Mohali railway station.
The workers who left for home in Hardoi, were relieved saying they were living in wretched conditions, with no food, little water and empty pockets, as employers didn’t pay them . Saying they were unlikely to return soon, as they would at least get “three daily meals at home”.
The 24-coach non-stop train ferrying these 1288 migrants left Mohali at 10 am and will have no stoppage before Hardoi.
Mohammad Tayyab, 32, said that over one month, they struggled to get three meals a day. “Our employer did not give us any money, so we had to borrow which has left us in debt. We don’t know what work we will do but at least we wont be hungry. I am not returning before three months .”
Naresh Kumar, 30, said they were ‘living in hell’ for the past 40 days. “We couldn’t make ends meet. If we didn’t die of the virus, we would surely have died of hunger. Our employer gave us no money so we borrowed from here and there,” he said
A domestic worker from Hardoi, Seema, 32, said, “At least we have house in UP. For two months we sat idle without work. Whatever we ate came from NGO’s and other organisations. Now, I don’t feel like coming back.”
Around 6,000 migrant workers from Hardoi, who are working in Mohali.
Mohali deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan, who was also present at the railway station, said the workers had been thoroughly screened before they boarded the train.
GOOD OMEN
Only 65% of those who had registered on the government portal turned up for departure, which the DC termed ‘a good omen’.
“People deciding to stay on is an indication that we are tip-toeing towards normalcy. Permission to resume labour intensive construction work and industrial operations has provided an opportunity to earn money and will check mass exodus.”