Left in the lurch, migrant labourers in Ludhiana head back home on foot

Say they are upset over repeated demands of rent from landlords and unavailability of food

Upset over repeated demands of rent from landlords and with no food to eat, hundreds of migrant labourers have again started moving back to their native places on foot. The police have rounded up some of the migrant labourers and sent them to shelter homes.

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Over a dozen labourers including their children and wives were walking on the National Highway 44 in Dhandari Kalan on Tuesday night, headed towards their native places in Lucknow.

Among them, Gulshan, who was residing here near Samrala Chowk, said he was obeying the lockdown norms for the past one month but now he was left with no food to eat and the landlord was also asking for rent. “We are left with no other option than to return home,” he said, adding that his contractor was yet to pay them ₹10,000 in wages.

Sharing his grouse, Biru, who was residing in Haibowal, said, “The government is making tall claims of providing food to every labourer but I have not got any for the past one week. If the police will stop us, we will request them to let us pass or find a way out for them to go home. Around 150 labourers are walking ahead of us already.”

Headed to Girakhpur with his four friends, Diwakar, who was residing near the Dhuri line, said, “I have not eaten for the four days. The government should make arrangements to send us back home if they cannot take care of us here.”

SOME SENT TO SHELTER

Additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP-2) Jaskiranjit Singh Teja said, “We have rounded up around 10 labourers who were headed back home from Bahadur Ke Road. These labourers were sent to a shelter home started by the district administration in Umedpur (Dehlon).” More migrant labourers were rounded up in the jurisdiction of ADCP-4 Ajinder Singh, who was not available for comments.