MP comes to aid of 5 men going to Ludhiana on foot

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 25

The plight of daily earners stuck in different parts of the country continues.

Nearly a month into the lockdown, five men from Ludhiana working at a trading company at Maihar in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh faced a crisis as they were left with no money and food.

Manish, Mandhata, Ayush, Anand and Alok, all aged between 18 and 28, decided to trudge their way to Ludhiana. On the night of April 22, they began the trek on the 700-km stretch.

One of them told The Tribune that after the wages provided by the trading company were exhausted, they survived for some time on local ration but were eventually turned away since they were from a different state.

“So we decided to return to Ludhiana. We crossed several places and asked the police for directions,” one of them said. The young men appeared shaken and tired by what they had endured.

The labourers were seen on Saturday afternoon by journalist Sharyana Deepak who tweeted about them. Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Gujral stepped in to arrange accommodation for them at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib.

Presently, the men are staying at the gurdwara and awaiting clearance from the state authorities hoping to get a ride back home with the help of the government.