E-Paper
Migrants paint school that gave them shelter
The migrants became restless when the lockdown imposed to check the Covid-19 pandemic was extended until May 3. Very rarely had they done no work for 15 days.
When authorities in Rajasthan’s Sikar accommodated 54 jobless workers at a school in Palsana on March 31, they thought it was a matter of a fortnight before they will be able to resume their journeys back home. The workers from Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh were trying to return to their homes because of the 21-day lockdown when they were brought to the school. They became restless when the lockdown imposed to check the Covid-19 pandemic was extended until May 3. Very rarely had they done no work for 15 days. The workers began cleaning and painting the school to get over their boredom and also as a token of gratitude for Palsana residents for taking good care of them.
Rajendra Kumar Meena, the school principal, said they first started cleaning the school campus from April 15 and three days later came to him asking for work that would be remembered after they are gone. He said the school had not been painted for 10 years. “I discussed with sarpanch [village head] Roop Singh Shekhawat if we could arrange paint. He agreed. My colleagues also agreed to fund one 20-litre bucket of paint each. We brought paint and other material for them and they began painting the verandahs the next day,” Meena said.
The workers said they were painting the school to express their gratitude to the villagers for looking after them. Around five to six of them began with painting the school verandahs on April 19. From Wednesday, they began painting classrooms.
“We are labourers. We will become sick if we continue to sit idle,” said Shankar Singh Chauhan, 58, one of the workers from Haryana. “The villagers are taking good care of us. We want to do something for them in return,” he said.
Shekhawat said some of the workers are painters while others are helping with scrubbing the old paint off and cleaning. He added they provide the workers three-time meals and fruits. “They were happy...so, they are doing this in gratitude.”
