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Not ready to wait, anxious Bihar migrants continue to walk back home
Despite trains bringing back thousands of stranded migrant labourers from different states, not all of them are ready to wait for their turn.
Despite trains bringing back thousands of stranded migrant labourers from different states, not all of them are ready to wait for their turn.
An early morning visit to Gopalganj border,connecting Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, reveals the endless queue of migrants on the way to their native places. Men, women and children with their belongings are on the move, come rain or shine.
On Tuesday by 9am, thousands of people from places like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi arrived on the Gopalganj border on foot, carts, taxis — anything they could manage. As many as 20 counters were set up for labourers to undergo thermal screening and get registered.
Mohammad Jabbar, 24, a native of Khagaria district, who is differently-abled, came on his tricycle from Delhi. Jabbar started his journey on April 23. He used to work in a fish market at Gazipur on Delhi border. “It was tiring. I left Delhi as I had no other option left,” he said, adding, “I used to cover over 50km every day and took a painkiller during the drive.”
His is not the only case. Md Armaan left from Jaipur for Araria with 80 people on April 1.
“All of us used to work together in a stitching unit, which supplied garments to a foreign company, but everything stopped after lockdown. We were unable to sustain ourselves there without money. The landlord asked for rent and disconnected power and water supply when we failed to pay the same” he added.
Supaul resident Mohammad Iqbal left from Alwar in Rajasthan with 26 others. “Without work, there was no point in staying there,” Iqbal said.
Meanwhile, many labourers rued that they did not receive the ₹1,000 assistance in their bank accounts that the Bihar government had announced.
Labourers Rekha Kumari, Rabita Kumari, both residents of Champaran said only a few of them were able to avail the cash assistance announced by the state government. “We failed to register and gave up after two or three attempts,” said Chandan Kumar, adding, that only those workers were able to avail ₹1,000 who have bank account in Bihar.
Meanwhile, a group of 40 students on the way to Saharsa from Madhya Pradesh reached Gopalganj by a taxi, paying ₹55,000. One of the students pleading anonymity said they just ate biscuits during the travel. “In the name of health check- up, we were only thermally screened. We were not given any certificates,” said another student.
In another case, Rohit Kumar of Purnea said that he along with eight others moved from Bareilly on April 1 and reached here late on Monday night.
The wait for another group, comprising of 73 people is getting longer since there is no vehicle to take them to West Bengal from the border area.
