‘Over 7,000 migrant workers sent home from Lucknow’
LUCKNOW:
Although several buses are queued up outside the temporary shelter home — Dr Shakuntala Mishra National Rehabilitation University campus -migrant workers are still sceptical and restless since they are yet to reach their home towns and villages.
All entry points of the state capital were sealed on Saturday night itself and the district machinery was pressed into intercepting the migrants on trucks, tempos, motorcycles, bicycles, even on foot. Several such vehicles were stopped at five entry points of the city and taken to the temporary shelter homes in buses.
A large number of migrants were sent to different districts in buses by Sunday evening, the district administration confirmed.
Additional district magistrate (ADM) city east, KP Singh said, “Over 7,000 migrant workers have been dispatched to their respective destinations in 170 buses. Workers are first being medically screened and registered at the temporary shelter home. After providing them food, they are being sent to their destinations in UP state road transport corporation buses.”
“All migrants moving on foot or cycle or dangerously on trucks or back of other vehicles are being stopped and then taken to the shelter home,” additional district magistrate (trans-Gomti) Vishwa Bhushan Mishra said.
The arrangement of buses to carry migrants was made at IIM crossing and other places on the route. Similar arrangement was made at Kamta crossing which connects Shaheed Path with Faizabad road leading to east UP districts till Bihar border. Shaheed Path brings migrants from Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and southern states.
Arrangements were also made at Ahemamau on Sultanpur Road. The migrant workers moving towards Sultanpur, Jaunpur, Amethi were stopped there and later carried in buses to the shelter home.
RESTLESS, WORRIED
Many of them thought they were being taken into custody. They were convinced with difficulty that they would be sent home. Having suffered physically and financially, the migrants labourers are restless. “We started from Gurugram when all resources were exhausted. Now, officials here assured us that they will arrange buses,” said Ranjit Kumar, resident of Sitapur’s Daina village.
He and his friend’s families left Gurugram with 6 children, walking on foot, hitchhiking and spent Rs5000 to reach home, before they were stopped at Lucknow border at around 9am.
A district administration employee said, “Migrant labourers were distressed. Earlier they feared they had been arrested.”
Some of them were not ready to leave the trucks fearing that they would be charged for buses. But the government officials said they would not be charged. Dharmendra Verma, one of the migrant workers of the group said,” We are coming from Indore in MP and have to go to Basti district. We paid Rs 5000 each for the truck driver and are now forced to leave it.” He demanded his money back.
Sajan Sahu, a Chattisgarhbound migrant said, “I and five others, including my family, were cycling to our native place in Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh. Police brought us here. Now, we are waiting for the bus as authorities assured,” he added.
Several like him, who hail from other states, were tense whether their respective state would allow their entry or not.
Lucknow’s chief development officer (CDO) Manish Bansal said, “We are sending migrant workers to different districts from here in UP State Road Transport Corporation buses. Those bound to other states will be sent after coordinating with the administration of the state concerned.”