‘Where Was CM When We Were Suffering All These Days & Now He Wants Us To Stay Back’- a Migrant
‘Where Was Our CM When We Were Suffering All These Days & Now He Wants Us To Stay Back. We don’t Trust our government nor our employer anymore. We just want to get back home and be with our families, and work in agriculture, even though the income may not be much – but it is much better than all the agony, suffering, hunger etc we had to bear since the lockdown, and no officials from the district administration, MCC and also our employers cared about us. And now our CM Yediyurappa wants us to stay back since he knows that our help is once again needed in the development or construction work. Our families are very much hurt, they don’t want to stay here- we had faced enough humiliation from the govt, admin and our employers. We want to go back home’- Basappa Gowda- a Migrant from Bagalkote
“Our employer is an “@@@@@@@@@@”? We all worked for a construction company where a mega commercial complex is coming up in the City. Our employer who is a rich builder, having businesses in Bengaluru, Mumbai etc, and owning three foreign cars, big bungalow, couldn’t afford to feed us when the lockdown kicked in, instead he kicked us all out. We are all from Jharkhand and since a month we have been spending days and nights wherever we could. Two days ago the construction site supervisor called us and said that he wants us back since the work will start soon. We openly said that we are not coming back, for all the abuse and treatment we got so far. When we asked for our two weeks pending salary, he kept quiet. We won’t trust the CM nor the govt nor any officials here, anymore. We are waiting to get back home if we find some kind of transportation. I think we will be happy back home rather than suffer here, with no one caring for us”- Chintu (along with four others) from Jharkhand.
Mangaluru: Following close on its heels, where Team Mangalorean had done an article (Ref: Agony, Hunger & Chaos Faced by Migrants Waiting near Town Hall for Buses to Reach their Hometowns ), on 28 April, where we interacted with a bunch of migrants waiting for buses near Town Hall, to take them to their hometowns- and some of their stories of all the agony, hunger etc they faced during lockdown were heart-wrenching. This morning, 2 May, Team Mangalorean visited the premises of Mini Vidhana Soudha, where a large gathering of migrants was trying their hope/luck to find transportation back to their hometown. And in the meantime, Team Mangalorean also interacted with few of their ordeal during lockdown so far, and what was their reaction towards CM’s request for them to stay back here.
It was learnt through IANS news, that with further easing of lockdown norms despite its extension by two more weeks, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Friday urged migrant workers to stay back, as economic activities would soon resume across the state. “I request migrant workers to stay back in the state and cooperate with us to resume economic activities under the new guidelines from the Central government,” Yediyurappa had said in a statement. Admitting that migrant workers were the worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic, as it had stalled economic activity, the Chief Minister said the state government had advised the industry and trade bodies to protect their jobs and pay March and April wages to them in full.
“As the Covid-19 situation in India is much better than in other countries, we are resuming economic activities from May 4 as per the new guidelines,” asserted Yediyurappa. CM’s appeal came a day after state Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar appointed nodal officers to oversee the movement of migrant workers and students to their respective states across the country by special train and buses from Bengaluru and other cities across the state. Well said by the CM, but why was he SO QUITE all these days when these migrants were left on the streets, with no proper food and shelter- and now when the infrastructure and development works are going to start soon, he remembered these poor migrants for his and state’s benefit. Bah humbug!
According to the state labour department, there are over 2 lakh migrant workers in Karnataka, who have been housed at hundreds of relief camps in cities and towns across the southern state, as they were stranded because trains and buses were suspended since the lockdown was enforced on March 25 and extended on April 15. With no work for a month now, migrant workers stranded throughout the state are eagerly awaiting the government to permit construction activities. With all their savings and government offered ration drying up, they prefer to return to their villages and work in agricultural fields, than suffer here with no help from anyone, including the govt or district administration.
A large group of migrants, hailing from Karnataka state and also from other states had gathered at the ‘Mini Vidhana Soudha’, which houses offices of the Mangaluru Taluk Administration- and many of these migrants have been coming days after days in order to find their chance on the KSRTC bus to travel to the native places. There were elderly men and women, middle-aged to children all anxiously waiting to return to their native land. Some had tears in their eyes due to all the agony they faced for over a month, while some were little cheerful that finally, they get a chance in few hours or a day to travel back home. But the hassles and formalities they had to face were hard to believe since many of them were illiterate- and the admin had posted a few notices on the walls as to how they had to browse through a website/app in order to get the details of the interstate travel.
Many were seen running back and forth to get the right details of their travel timings etc since they didn’t have the knowledge of downloading the app or browse through the internet. It is learnt that the South Western Railway zone has also agreed to run special trains to ferry migrant workers, pilgrims, students, tourists and other persons, stranded since March 25, to their states after the state government screens and certifies them to be free from the virus symptoms. But the only problem with many of these migrants is that they someone to guide them with the App and the website. A sad situation during such a bad situation!
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!
