Migrants won’t stay back, no matter what

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Batala (Gurdaspur), March 29

Hordes of migrant labourers working in the industrial hub of Batala are walking back home too, fearing if the corona outbreak is not controlled they may either die or if at all they survive they will be ostracised by their folks back home.

On a conservative estimate, of the 15,000 labourers who have made the city their home after migrating from UP, Bihar, MP, Jharkhand and Rajasthan over the last several decades, 5000 have already left.

Workers, carrying backpacks, set out on foot in the morning, walking along the very roads they built and past factories where they once earned their livelihood.

Despite Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ishfaq’s claims that the administration has made arrangements to ensure these people have adequate ration, they are not willing to stay back.

Labourers are adamant on going back fearing that even if they catch the disease and are cured, they will have to carry the ‘corona stigma’ following which they will not be allowed to enter their villages.

Vishwa Mittar Goel, general secretary, Batala Foundrymen Association, said: “I tried to convince some of them to stay calm as normalcy will soon return but to no avail. If they are not made aware that the disease is not fatal and there is no disgrace in catching the virus, more will go home.”

Pathankot to Gwalior on foot

Jalandhar: With a handkerchief tied to his face, Ram Kumar, treads along the PAP highway in Jalandhar — his eventual destination is Gwalior, 849 km from his starting point Pathankot. Ram Kumar who had come to Punjab on March 16 has had a shortlived stint at Pathankot selling golgappas. A week into his new business, the lockdown caused him to lock up his vend and head home. With no vehicles available due to the lockdown — he has decided to reach Gwalior on foot. Accompanied by another family (of his relative Gulaab) — the troupe of 11 has been traversing the state highways since Saturday on foot. Aparna Banerji