Returning migrant labourers narrate their tales of sorrows

Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi

Hoshiarpur, May 25

Migrant labourers enroute to Bihar on Hoshiarpur’s first Shramik Express had their own stories of pain. If some were returning home for the reason of shops remaining shut, others because they had no work as all construction activities have stopped. Some children had to leave their studies to return home along with their families.

Santosh Kumar, a labourer, said he had come to the state as he was hopeful of getting work during the harvesting of the sugarcane crop. He said he had been stuck here for the past two months without work.

Satinder Tiwari said he had come to support medical expenses of a seriously-ill relative. Now that the state has started trains for migrants, he too wants to return home, he said, adding that he had no work and nothing to eat.

A student Kumar, returning to Gopal Ganj, said as all his family members were returning home, he too was going along with them, discontinuing his education. He says if the family returns in future, he will come back and resume studies.

Looking distressed, Manoj Kumar Yadav, who came to the station to catch a train for Muzaffarpur, said he had been living here for the past 20 years and ran a small shop. “Due to the continuous lockdown, my business came to a standstill. Some payments were stuck but I didn’t get those. I had no money to survive so I decided to leave for home,” he said.