The torment of migrants does not seem to end even after coming to their home state as alleged gaps in execution of promises at the ground level has pushed some of them to the brink of starvation.
Babloo Singh, 36, a migrant worker in Kurun panchayat of Bhandariya block in Garhwa district of Jharkhand, stares at a bleak future with his family of three daughters, wife and parents surviving at the mercy of Good Samaritans of their village.
“Hum kuch mahine se taklif main the par gaon aa kar laga ki kuch kar lenge apne parivar ke liye. Par 14 din quarantine main ho gai, ghar main khane ka kuch nahin, koi sarkari madad nahin mile, karza ka bojh bhi badh gaya hain (I have spent the past few months in pain but after returning to my native village had hoped that I would do something to support my family. But I have been staying in quarantine and there is nothing to feed the family. There is no government help and to add to the problem, the burden of borrowed money from others has increased so much),” said Babloo.
He worked as a contract worker in Chennai on a daily wage of Rs 300 in an engineering plant.
Babloo claims the contractor who had him and others to Chennai has withheld their payments for April and May after the plant shut down in March because of the lockdown.
“Do mahine se payment nahin diya, kisi tarah hum log Jharkhand pahunche, par yahan bhi koi madad nahin mil raha (We were not paid salary for two months. We managed to reach Jharkhand somehow but even here there is no support),” said Babloo who returned on May 24 in a special Shramik train from Chennai to Ranchi.
He was taken to his village on a special bus from Ranchi and was kept in Uchha Vidyalaya in Kurun, Garhwa.
Similar is the condition of Mahto Munda in Rahada panchayat of Kanke block near Ranchi.
“I used to work as a labourer in Visakhapatnam and returned on May 20 by a special train. I am the only earning member and I used to send money for my parents. We were not paid a salary for April and May and had no option but to stay in home quarantine for 14 days.
“As I could not go outside because of the quarantine protocols, I had no option but to eat one time a day with whatever was available in the house. We had no option but to borrow money from known persons for our survival. There has been no government help apart from the free train service,” said Mahto, 25.
On May 13, Jharkhand home and disaster management department secretary Amitav Kaushal had written to deputy commissioners in all the 24 districts to ensure that a one-time dry ration food packet is given during home quarantine period. The dry ration packets would have included 10kg rice, 1kg arhar dal, 1kg chana dal, 1 litre mustard oil and 1kg salt.
“All those undergoing home quarantine had been advised to download the Jharkhand Bazar App so that dry ration packets would be provided at their home from their nearest ration shops. I do not know how the migrants could not get dry ration. We are yet to receive any specific complaints. However, we would look into the issue,” said Ranchi deputy development commissioner Ananya Mittal.
Repeated calls Garhwa deputy commissioner Harsh Mangla and deputy development commissioner Naman Priyesh Lakra on their mobile phones on Saturday went unanswered.
An advocate in Ranchi Anup Kumar Agarwal said he would be lodging a PIL in this connection at Ranchi High Court on Monday.
“We have collected details of several migrant workers from across Jharkhand who used to spend their home quarantine period in abject poverty because of the lack of government support. I would be filing a PIL in this connection at the high court on Monday,” said Agarwal.
Special secretary state disaster management Manish Tiwari promised to take up the issue with the respective deputy commissioners.
“We had asked all the deputy commissioners to ensure dry rations for migrants undergoing home quarantine. We would take up the issue with the district administration,” said Manish Tiwari.