India shutdown: Karnataka to restart migrant trains, but many start walking

Several groups of migrant workers in Bangalore left on foot for their home states, after the state government stopped migrant train services on Wednesday. (Express photo)

A day after its decision to suspend train services for stranded migrant workers was severely criticized, the BJP government in Karnataka decided on Thursday to resume train services.

By then, Chandrabhushan Sahani, 24, a construction company worker in Hebbal, north of Bengaluru, had started walking. With Rs 300 in his pocket and his phone on a 90 percent charge, the two hoped they would last him on the 2,100 km trip home. On Thursday afternoon, Sahani started walking the NH-44 highway towards Hyderabad, hoping to reach her home in the Siddharth Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh.

“We will get to Hyderabad and somehow if they let us cross the state border, we will move on. I need to continue talking to my mother and my wife at home. I’m concerned about running out of load. So I use it sparingly, ”he said. With him was a group of 23 co-workers on the same construction site, all from UP’s Siddharth Nagar and Gorakhpur districts.

They were among several groups of migrant workers in Bangalore who left on foot for their home states, after the state government stopped migrant train services on Wednesday. The Opposition and others reacted angrily to the government’s decision, claiming that it had stopped the trains under pressure from the construction and infrastructure lobby, which feared the long-term stagnation of its projects if migrant workers left the state capital.

When the government reversed its decision, the state revenue secretary wrote to the governments of other states, asking them to prepare for the arrival of the migrants.

“Once the train schedules are set, the workers will be taken from the construction sites to the departure point of the trains. They will take them to the railway stations and put them on the trains to their states, “said Karnataka Education Minister S Suresh Kumar.

“Train services could resume in a day or two. Logistical decisions must be made about who should stay on the trains and where they should be allowed to board the train to avoid chaos. It will be done discreetly and everyone who wants to go will be able to go, “said a senior government official dealing with migrants.

But Sahani, who worked as a painter at the Hebbal construction company, is not waiting for the trains to start.

“There is nothing for us here. We have not been receiving food or money. Bahut evenhani hai. Yahan ka sarkar humari sunti nahi hai. Woh log andar baithe hai, hum dikhte nahi unko (There is a lot of anguish here. The government here does not listen to us. They are all inside their homes, we are not even visible to them), ”he said.

He said that for the past five years, he had been coming to Bangalore to work, earning around Rs 20,000 per month, of which he would send Rs 12,000 to his family. “Now, we have to ask them to send us money. I’m the only member who wins at home, ”he said.

“We went many times to the Amrutahalli police station, filling out forms to request a train ticket. But then they said they had canceled the trains, so we packed up some clothes and started walking. The police could arrest us. But what else can we do? Dheere dheere pahuch jayenge (Let’s get there slowly), ”said Bhagirathi Sahani, a 22-year-old from the same region who was walking with Sahani. In addition to a few hundred rupees each, workers said they were not carrying food supplies.

In the first weeks of closing, the company that employed them gave them every Rs 500, once a week. “For three weeks now, they’ve stopped giving even that. The tank truck that used to supply our neighborhood stopped coming because we have no money. There is no water for bathing or washing hands. We have some ration but that was also exceeded. The government here only helps the locals, they don’t care what happens to us, ”Sahani said.

Both workers said they were so desperate to get home that they did not expect the contractor to pay them. “The company has not been paying us full wages since December. We owe ourselves all over Rs 8 lakh. Even then, we don’t want to wait. Here, our lives are in danger, ”said Sahani.

Raju, 28, a paani puri vendor at Bengaluru’s Wilson Garden, had also dated his family and some friends. The group of seven itinerant migrants included her brother, sister-in-law, and the couple’s one-and-a-half year-old daughter. They were all heading to Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, at a distance of 2,100 km.

“Right now, there is no way to travel other than on foot. But by nightfall, I’m sure some truck will agree to take us for a reasonable amount, ”he said. Some truck drivers demanded Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000 per head, Raju said.

He said the family decided to start walking because their earnings had dropped to zero and they were confident that the blockade would extend beyond May 17. “Not only us, others have also started to walk. We have met many groups along the way, ”he said.

In the city, Raju said, while his landlord gave up rent for the length of the lockdown, it was difficult to make his money last with skyrocketing prices for basic goods. “What should cost 50 rupees now costs 100 rupees. And they kept saying that the trains would run today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow. Yes, some people donated a portion to us. But how long can we survive on charity? he said.

Some acquaintances made the same trip a few days ago. “They were caught at the Andhra border, but then they paid a commission of 2,000 rupees and left at night. Let me get to the border, ma’am. I will call you and tell you if we made it or not, ”he said.

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