Work at native villages reason for going back, say migrants

Shivani Bhakoo

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 8

Amid the rising Covid cases in the country, with the government advising people to stay home to curb the spread of the virus, a large migrant population can be seen at railway stations and bus stops to go back to their native villages in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Ludhiana Tribune spoke to a number of migrants who said they were going back to their villages not out of fear of the pandemic but because they had other commitments at home. They said they were also paying higher fare prices for the same.

Ashok, who works at a hosiery unit in Industrial Area A, said he and his family would leave for his village in Bihar on May 11. He added: “Covid is not the reason. It has been over two years since I have gone back to my village and want to visit my parents.”

When asked if the visit could be delayed, he said: “All our fellow migrants are travelling. They did not catch the infection. We will also be careful. Work and other commitments cannot be delayed due to Covid.” He added that he was paying Rs 300 extra per ticket.

A similar story is that of Guriya’s, whose mother has already left for Uttar Pradesh with her siblings, cited construction of a room in their village home as the reason for going back. Guriya added her mother also had gone to find a suitable match for her. When she was also asked if it was risky to travel amid the rise in Covid cases, she said: “Nothing will happen to us as Covid is the disease of rich people.”

Another pair of migrants, Kamlesh and her son, work at a crockery house in Ghumar Mandi and have just returned from Uttar Pradesh.

Kamlesh said he had gone home to collect the payment of the harvested crop, adding: “I was missing my grand-daughter and my elder son was also getting married. Arrangements had to be made in the village.”

When the migrants were asked if they had received the vaccination jab, all of them denied and said they were in no hurry to get the same.