Going back home is not an option for all migrants

To tackle the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had first announced a nationwide lockdown on March 24, which, in its fourth phase, has now been extended till May 31.

Even as the district administration and state government are making arrangements for migrants to go back to their home states, not all of them are willing to uproot their lives, despite facing several troubles over the past two months.

With construction activities and industries gradually resuming work, daily wage labourers also feel that their situation will change soon.(Yogendra Kumar/HT file photo. Representative image)

To tackle the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had first announced a nationwide lockdown on March 24, which, in its fourth phase, has now been extended till May 31. However, soon after the lockdown, the entire country witnessed large-scale migrant movement across the country. Following this, the state government made several travel arrangements for those willing to go back home, including special trains and roadways buses.

Most migrants in the city are facing large-scale unemployment and are dependent on either the government or individual sources for essentials like food. However, there are a few migrants here who are not willing to go back home.

“I am being paid twice my salary this month. I can use the additional money to send back home to Bihar. Had I left, who knows if I would have even found a job again when I returned,” Pramod Jha, a security guard at a high-rise in Sector 137, said.

He said that the staff is staying in the society and though he has a 10-year-old son who is staying in Gejha village with relatives, the extra money is helping them—that would not have been possible had he gone back home.

Some believe that with lockdown norms starting to be relaxed, unemployment will no longer be an issue.

“I was ready to return to work when domestic help was allowed. I even asked one of my employers, but their society had decided to wait before letting us resume work. But hopefully, that will change soon and I can start working. Our whole lives are here now. My kids go to school in Noida and even though it would have been more comfortable to go back home where most of our family live, I don’t want to lose my work here. There is no guarantee that by the time we return, my employers won’t find other maids,” Sarita from Jharkhand, who works as domestic help, said.

With construction activities and industries gradually resuming work, daily wage labourers also feel that their situation will change soon.

“We returned from Bihar only a few days before the lockdown. I used to work as domestic help but due to a lack of work, I started working at a construction site. For two months during the lockdown, I was without work or money, completely dependent on others for ration. Our contractor returned home, leaving me and several others high and dry. But a few days ago, I got a call from a society in Sector 77. They asked me to start working there. If I start earning, I can resume sending money back home. In the beginning, I wanted to go home, but if I go back to Bihar, I will not have enough money,” Parveena, a daily wage earner, said.

For most migrants choosing to continue to stay, the decision is monetary.

At the onset of the lockdown when it wasn’t clear whether the migrants would be able to go back home, Manoj, a rickshaw puller, and his wife had used their meagre savings to invest in fruits and vegetables which they purchase from the Sector 88 mandi and bring to sell around high-rises in the city in his rickshaw.

“Even if we wanted to go back home, we cannot because all our money is now tied up in the rickshaw and the produce we sell. Nobody will buy my rickshaw during this time and the only way to sell it will be at a loss. My brothers and parents are back home but now we have to stay here,” Manoj said.

However, despite all these reasons, hundreds of migrants are crossing the border looking for ways to reach home.

“We are plying at least five buses today itself to ferry these migrants from the borders to shelter homes where arrangements have been made to take those from various UP districts to their homes. More roadways buses have been requested and soon those from out of the state will also be able to leave,” deputy commissioner of police, zone 1, Sankalp Sharma, said.

The administration has also released a link where migrants willing to go back home can register themselves. On Saturday, five trains had departed from Gautam Budh Nagar for various districts in Bihar.