Bunk beds are emptied on trains when workers get jobs, stay in Ludhiana

Migrants at the Ludhiana train station. (Express photo by Gurmeet Singh)

A couple of days after trains carrying migrants started running across the country, the three who left Ludhiana since Tuesday see many empty seats, and workers are left behind when work started to arrive.

The train headed to Prayagraj on Tuesday night with 756 passengers, while the Bareilly train on Wednesday morning had 900 people, against a coronavirus-adjusted capacity of nearly 1,200. The train that left at midday Wednesday for Daltongonj in Jharkhand, after officials texted nearly 1,600 people to ensure more people showed up, was carrying 1,161 people.

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Punjab has seen around 11.4 lakh of records on its out-of-state train portal, with 1.32 lakh recorded in the past 24 hours. Of the 11.4 lakh, 5.88 lakh recorded from Ludhiana.

Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Pardeep Agarwal said: “We have more than 1 lakh of factory workers now (versus more than 10 lakh generally). Several of them are making last minute decisions and do not tackle after looking at the relaxations that are being given to the industry to open up. ” Agarwal said the fact that registrants have not paid for the tickets, and therefore have not been charged any cancellation fees, was also a factor that caused them to change their minds.

Among those who decided to stay behind was Lakshman Kumar, from the village of Tikapur in Begusarai of Bihar. “I checked into the portal, but then I felt like I could catch the virus during the trip. My brother Bharat Kumar, who works in Haryana, also decided to stay. When 3,000 people who came from Nanded test positive in large quantities, here we go in a thousand rupees! Then I will have 14 days of quarantine in the village and, if I return, 21 days of quarantine in Ludhiana. It’s a waste of time. Also, now the unit where I work is open and I get paid, ”said Kumar, who is 30 and works in a car unit, Rajnish Industries Pvt Ltd.

Rahul Ahuja, director of the unit and president of the IIC’s Punjab branch, said he opened his unit on April 9, with adequate guarantees, and has managed to convince half of its 800 workers to stay behind. “My unit deals with domestic demand and exports. Work is not in full swing, but something is better than nothing. “

Upkar Singh, president of the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Enterprises (CICU), and owner of a unit that makes agricultural tools, Swan Industries, said some employees who left have been calling him.

Ghanshyam Kumar, who belongs to Patna, has a rhythm and transports goods from the factories. “I had registered with a group of 15 others to leave, but now the owners started calling me to work. It’s not the same amount that I used to get before, but when the work has started, why should I go? he said.

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Ravinder Kumar and 12 of his friends working on contract at the Samrala steel unit said: “We are from Odisha and we registered. But as the units are opening, employers are calling. If we start getting even 50% of the work we got before, we will stay where we are. ”

Records from the District Industry Center (DIC) show that more than 6,000 units in Ludhiana have pledged to open. “One company is enough, no other permit is needed … According to a factory I card, workers can travel. No other curfew pass is needed,” said Mahesh Khanna, the General Manager, DIC.

Simplified rules have meant that the number of open units has steadily increased from almost 900 that were operational on April 25. While more than 1,500 units registered with the Federation of Industrial and Commercial Companies have been opened, more than 600 units have also been opened with the CICU.

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Gurmeet Singh Kular, President of FICO, said: “We are giving our members a free thermal thermometer, a small spray pump, 5 liters of sodium hypochlorite, masks and a mask. It costs us almost Rs 5,000 per member. But It is a stimulus for them to open units. The workers are also motivated by this. My 1,200 workers work every other day. I will absorb everyone. “

Sanjay Kumar, the owner of Nice Exports, a bicycle maker, said: “I am facing an abundance problem, rather. I was planning to operate my unit with 60 workers, even though I had 100. However, the 100 came to me and I They said to hire them. Now I’m thinking of taking it all in and making them work three days each. “

Kular said: “Recently, forty workers organized a dharna in front of a bicycle unit, asking that they be employed. They had gone to Uttar Pradesh, but returned from Rajpura. “

Gurpreet Singh Gogi, the Managing Director of the Punjab State Export and Industrial Corporation, said they also purchased a disinfectant and disinfectant machine for their members. “We want the workers to know that they must be left behind as we are making arrangements for their safety.”

In the late afternoon, textile manufacturers and traders approached the Ludhiana authorities to allow them to open their units during the night hours (8 pm-7 am) instead of the day. Tarun Bawa Jain, president of the Bahadurke Dyeing Association, said that while they were going to open their units on Thursday morning, “This can help us maintain social distancing … not all workers need to come onto the roads at the same time. “

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