E-Paper
Migrant workers say standing wheat crop waiting in villages
Gurugram: For over 500 migrant workers, who have been put up at the Manesar relief camp, the stay is only a stopgap as they want the authorities to arrange transport
Gurugram: For over 500 migrant workers, who have been put up at the Manesar relief camp, the stay is only a stopgap as they want the authorities to arrange transport for them so that they can reach their homes in different states. The workers, who reached the camp on Monday after Haryana borders were completely sealed, said they are facing a double whammy of losing their jobs in local factories as well as not being able to reach their villages to harvest the standing wheat crop.
Large groups of workers from Saharanpur, Barreilly, Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Bharatpur and Alwar in Rajasthan and some from Mahoba in Madhya Pradesh are staying at the camp set up by the district administration for migrant labourers who were walking long distances back to their villages.
Around 500 workers came to the camp on Monday and the flow remained constant on Tuesday as well, said officials. The workers, who have found their way to this camp, came from Sonipat, Panipat, Jhajjar, Rohtak, Manesar and some from Daruhera. Most have been laid off from factories and they want to reach home before they exhaust all their savings, said officials.
The workers said that the ban on movement has unfortunately coincided with the harvesting season, and even if there was no lockdown a majority of them regularly travel to their home states in March/April to work in the fields. “We had come to Pataudi a couple of months back and harvested the mustard crop but as there is no work now, we decided to return to our fields in Shahjanabad. It is not feasible to stay here for long and we want the government to ensure transport for us,” said Ombir, a resident of Uttar Pradesh.
Most of the workers in the camp are worried that if they continue to stay in the camps, it would be difficult for their families to harvest the wheat crop all on their own. “No doubt we are being given food, milk, tea and whatever is required at the camp but how long can we stay here like this. I was walking towards my village with my fellow workers from Chandigarh but we were sent here from the Haryana-Rajasthan border. Our village is in Dholpur in Rajasthan and we want the government to arrange transport for us,” said Deepak Kumar, who worked as a stonecutter.
Both men and women staying at the camp, however, said that proper arrangements have been made for lodging, food and other essential items. “All amenities are being made available at the Manesar camp and relief material and food is also being distributed among industrial workers in villages around the Manesar industrial area,” said Bijender Malik, Tehsildar Manesar.
The district administration said that adequate relief measures have been put in place and that there is no need to panic. Amit Khatri, deputy commissioner, Gurugram, inspected of the camps in and around Manesar. “These measures will remain in place untill the lockdown is in place. There is no need for workers to leave the city,” he assured.
However, social and civil society activists engaged in relief work said that in case the lockdown is extended, keeping large numbers of workers in camps would become difficult. “The migrants who want to go to their states should be allowed to do so and buses should be arranged for them. This will ease the burden for both sides,” said Ramesh Yadav, a Gurugram-based activist, who was working with the administration at the Manesar camp.
