Delhi farmer sends 10 guest workers home by flight
While the rich mill owners and businessmen have left their guest workers stranded on roads, a farmer with minimal resources came forward for his workers and has booked flight tickets for 10 workers who were his helping hand in his mushroom fields in rural Delhi’s Tigipur village near Bakhtawarpur area.
In the wake of Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown scores of guest workers along with their families, mostly hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh are left stranded and are forced to walk hundreds of miles in the scorching heat to reach their homes after they were left with no money and food in the cities where they came in search of livelihood. Even their contractors have left them in lurch.
The farmer, Pappan Singh Gahlot, is in farming of mushroom for last 27 years. “Every year some families hailing from Sripur Gahar village in Bihar’s Samastipur district and indulge in labourer activities come here to sow my field in the season and thereafter they return to their respective homes. This time around 10 labourers had arrived here to sow my field but lockdown was announced and they got stuck here,” said Gahlot.
“Though the time of mushroom sowing had ended in March but these labourers were not able to return to their home. Recently, they wished to return to their homes following which I booked 10 flights tickets for these labourers so that they can return to their homes safely,” said Gahlot.
“These labourers are sowing my field for several
years and a bond has been developed between us. It doesn’t matter if 10 flight tickets cost me Rs 68,000 but my priority is their safety as several labourers who were walking towards their homes had been also tested positive for Coronavirus,” said Gahlot.
“Their flight ro Patna airport is scheduled for May 28 at 6 AM and I will personally drop these all labourers to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport,” said Gahlot.
Giving reason to book
flight for labourers, Gahlot said that bus and train might take time due to less availability and there can be shortage of food and water while travelling through road or rail.
We have been trying to book train tickets from past some times but it did not happen, as soon as the government decided to resume flight services I got the tickets, it may be cheeper if i would have booked of a later time but I dont want them to suffer more they have already suffered enough.
Meanwhile, Sunit Chauhan, councillor of the area said that screening of all the labourers have been completed and the expense for travelling from Patna airport to their homes will be spent by him.
The way metro cities and most of the mill and factory owners have treated their workers they now think twice before coming back. This was the time for us to boost confidence in them but I personally feel that we have failed. Iam doing my bit and hope if everyone can do just a liitle for them then they can again start trusting us, Pappan added.
Left without any source of income, thousands of migrants mostly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar had hit the street and highways connecting DelhiNCR hoping to get support from the government to reach their homes.