And they lent a helping hand to stuck migrants

LUCKNOW: Goodness is the only investment that never fails, said famous American transcendental poet Henry David Thoreau. Proving his quote true, two good Samaritans from the state capital helped over 1700 stranded migrants reach their home by arranging buses on their own for them during the lockdown.

Not only this, they also coordinated with Aurangabad district administration to ensure that 1200 migrant workers of UP stranded there did not miss the special train run for them.

The duo are Vidit Narain, who is into automobile business, and Sehaj Mann, an educationist. They are both in their 30s.

“It all started with a casual call from Sehaj who said why can we not arrange some trucks and send these people who are walking on roads back home,” said Narain.

“Initially I thought it to be a vague idea but after giving a second thought I realised it was a great idea and instead of trucks we thought of arranging buses,” he added.

Raising fund was perhaps the first thing which they did.

“I talked to some entrepreneurs in other districts and states to raise the fund. Initially our target was Rs 5 lakh but to our surprise we collected Rs 9 lakh within 24 hours,” said Narain who used all his contacts for the purpose. “It was heartbreaking to see the sufferings of the migrants everyday. We needed to do something about it. More than a hundred people donated within three days. We are so happy we could send these migrants home safely but it feels like it was just a drop in the ocean,” said Sehaj.

On May 22, they started the first bus from Lucknow to Faizabad, Basti and Gorakhpur in which around 32 people travelled. Similarly on other days, they launched buses for other UP districts.

“But then we realised that the bigger problem was of sending people to other states and the we also launched interstate bus services after taking all due permissions,” he said. In around eight days, the duo helped some 1736 migrant workers reach their homes.

Later, the duo also coordinated with Aurangabad district administration and helped around 1200 migrants board the Shramik Express special train from there to Uttar Pradesh.