‘We Were Abandoned, Humiliated Here-We Just Want to Go Home’- Migrants from Jharkhand near Mangaluru Central Railway Station on Friday 8 May morning
Mangaluru: They came in hundreds walking all the way from Surathkal, Baikampady, Padil, Thokkuttu and other places, after they heard the rumours that a train from Mangaluru was going towards Jharkhand- and it turned out to be a false alarm- as no trains are being scheduled to go from Mangaluru to other destinations. Earlier CM Yediyurappa having met with builders of CREDAI had played a dirty trick of cancelling all the trains leaving from the Karnataka State to other states, so that the migrants could stay back and work again in the construction field. Bah humbug! Following the earlier reports on migrants by Team Mangalorean ( Ref: ‘Where Was CM When We Were Suffering All These Days & Now He Wants Us To Stay Back’- a Migrant ); Ref: Chaos and Hunger Faced by Migrants & labourers lodged at a Hostel in Padua during Lockdown in City ); (Ref: Agony, Hunger & Chaos Faced by Migrants Waiting near Town Hall for Buses to Reach their Hometowns); (Ref: ‘We Can’t & Won’t Tweet for Noodles & Eggs, Instead Will Beg & Wait for Basic Food & Care’- Beggars & Migrants ) , and now, we have yet another report on the migrants trying to get back to their hometowns, but sadly all their efforts are in vain.
But later facing flak over the cancellation of trains to other States, the Karnataka government on Thursday did a U-turn and decided to restart trains for migrant workers to nine States from Friday. A decision was taken by Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Thursday morning, sources said, following outrage expressed by the Opposition and workers’ organisations. An internal assessment by the Home Department is said to have warned that labour unrest may go out of hand if trains are not restarted. But no trains from Mangaluru were scheduled to go anywhere. It is learnt that N. Manjunath Prasad, nodal officer for inter-state travel, in Bengaluru has written to Indian Railways and governments of nine States – Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha – requisitioning at least one train to these destinations every day from May 8 to May 15.
The Karnataka Government has sought two special trains every day to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha, as most of the migrant workers here come from these States and make up the bulk of those registered on Seva Sindhu, a portal for travel out of the State. While the rest are yet to respond, the Bihar government has approved only one train per day, as against two trains requested. Sources reveal that the State government is ready to run as many trains as needed. But trains can be organised only after receiving consent from the States. There are logistics issues in these states due to the return of so many migrants. We will strive to organize more trains,” said an official with the labour office here.
The official also said also that to avoid confusion, like what prevailed in the last few days, officials will create awareness among the migrants on the procedure – a text message to their mobiles will confirm their tickets and inform them of the schedule of the trip and boarding station. But most of the time, these migrants don’t follow the procedures, and un-necessarily come to the railway station after getting false information, like what is happening now at the moment. With no trains going has put all these migrants into despair. Over 1000 migrants had gathered near the Mangaluru Central Railway station, but all their hopes of travelling back to their hometowns were in vain-since no trains are scheduled till the next two-three days, at least.
Many migrants were holding placards which read “We Want to Go back to Jharkhand”, “We want to Go Home”, “We Don’t Want to Live Here”, among others. Their coming to the railway station was simply a waste of time, and they were all disappointed to learn that there was no train going today from Mangaluru to Jharkhand. It was only after Labour Officer Ms Wilma Tauro addressed these migrants, that they were convinced and decided to bear with the consequences for the next couple of days till trains resume service.
Ms Wilma addressing the migrants said, “No one told you to come to the railway station today when we have not finalized the train schedule. Even though we are ready from here to operate the trains, but we need to get a NOC from your state, which we are waiting for. Therefore, until you receive a message on your mobile that your travel to your hometown is confirmed, don’t unnecessary come here and create hassles, for you and everyone. If you need ration or food, we will make the arrangements, but you need to cooperate with the administration. The train service may not start until the next three to four days, but if something turns good soon, we will let you know. So don’t panic and have the patience for couple more days”.
Speaking to Team Mangalorean, Ms Vidya Dinker, the Coordinator of Citizens Forum for Mangaluru Development said, “We have been supporting these workers from Jharkhand since the last week of March, keeping them patiently hopeful about returning home, while ensuring they get their minimum supplies of food rations. Last evening I started getting calls and messages from several of them about a train to leave Mangalore Central Railway station for Jharkhand at 8 am today. I assured them this was not the case, it’ll take another day or two, but the anxiety about being stranded while others will leave gave these rumours strength and over 1000 of them reached the station premises early this morning”
She further said, “Those who are playing with the emotions and vulnerabilities of these migrants who were already so distressed by the abrupt lockdown and the difficulties they are facing must be found out and brought to book! We from Citizens Forum for Mangalore Development will continue to pursue the matter of sending those migrants who wish to go home with the State, and will try to ensure it happens with dignity and respect for those who toil and build our cities”. Team Mangalorean noticed that majority of these migrants were not willing to stay back and work in Mangaluru, because of all the humiliation and hardships they had faced during the lockdown, and even their employers had abandoned them, by not providing them shelter or food.
Manish, a migrant from Jharkhand who has been working for a local builder here speaking to Team Mangalorean said, “Now our employer wants us to come back and work for him since the building work will start again soon. But, we are not willing to work here, since we were not looked after during the lockdown, nor our employer gave us some money when we literally begged. We feel that we will be safe back home than here, where we can find a job in our villages rather than suffer and get humiliated”.
Mohammed Mubarak from Giridih district said, “We had enough of Mangaluru. We are scared for our lives, and if we are alive, we can come back for work. But right now we want to go home and be with our families at any cost. We have all exhausted with our savings during the lockdown and have no money to pay either the rent or buy commodities. Our employer will not help us, so why even bother to work for such an employer”. Yet another migrant from Tripura said, “If they can’t arrange trains from Mangaluru, the govt or district administration should at least arrange buses for us till Bengaluru, and from there we can catch a train to our native places. If not, we will travel to our places on foot”.
Chaos and tension prevailed when one of the migrants was apprehended by the cops for raising his voice, the rest of the crowd stood up and confronted the cops, but the situation was brought under control quickly by the higher police authorities. Among the higher police officials present at the scene, was DCP (Crime & Traffic)-Laxmi Ganesh; DCP (law and order) Arunangshu Giri; DCP Jagadish, and also personnel from Railway Police Force.
With many of these migrants not willing to stay back here in Mangaluru/DK due to all the hardships, humiliation and suffering they faced during the lockdown- and who desperately want to head back to their native places, it would be a herculean task for the builders, contractors, hoteliers etc to find help once the lockdown is lifted and business is ready to go. Many of these migrants feel that it would be better for them to be in their hometowns with their families, and work in farms, or do odd jobs there, rather than suffer here with no money in hand- because you never know when the economy will get back to its norm. And I don’t blame these migrants. “Home Sweet Home” will be much better and happier than Spending Days and Nights under shop roofs/bus shelters etc and depending on NGO’s to feed them!
