Fighting odds, migrants continue to walk home

QUOTE (NOT IN COPY): Hard times

“I worked at a namkeen manufacturing unit in Ludhiana for 23 years. After I lost my job, I couldn’t afford the rent so my son and I decided to leave for my home in Meerut. I bought a new cycle for Rs4,000 and started my journey. The Punjab Police stopped us at the Shambu border. After we pleaded, they allowed us to enter Haryana.”

– Rajesh, migrant labourer

Nitish Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ambala, May 16

Braving heat and hunger, migrant labourers from Punjab can be seen carrying their belongings and children and crossing the Ghaggar river to enter Ambala.

Though the state government has been claiming that it has been distributing free ration among migrants and making arrangements of their safe return, the migrants seem to have lost faith in the authorities.

“We might not die of Covid, but we will surely die of hunger if we don’t reach our home (Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh),” said Sarvesh, a labourer from Ludhiana who crossed the river with his wife and three children. “I lost my job and got no food from the authorities. We have been eating black grams. For the past 15 days, we have been getting hollow assurances that we will be sent back to our home,” he added.

As Punjab hasn’t been able to control the exodus, the local administration has raised the matter with Punjab repeatedly.

SP Abhishek Jorwal said, “The migrants who crossed the Ghaggar river or were stopped at the border are being sent back to Punjab. Those who have entered Haryana from other routes have been sent to shelter homes. Nearly 120 buses, carrying 35 persons each, have been sent to Saharanpur in the past three days.”

DC Ashok Sharma said, “We have asked the Punjab Government to stop the exodus of migrants as we have limitations here. Nearly 6,000 people were shifted to shelter homes in the past three days. They are being sent to UP in buses. People shouldn’t cross the river or walk on the national highway. Industries have resumed operations and they should stay at their workplace.”