The Jharkhand government on Friday sent a bus to Nepal to bring back 26 labourers of Dumka stranded in Sindhupalchok district of the neighbouring country.
The chief minister’s office made the announcement in the evening and said that all are expected to return by Saturday.
The Dumka district administration has also pressed two magistrates along with a team of doctors and security forces in separate vehicles along with the bus to coordinate with the authorities in the Himalayan country for smooth transition of workers from the border.
The district administration has also issued a no objection certificate on behalf of state government as movement permit to the officials to bring the workers back.
One of the magistrates, Anup Kumar Verma, who was originally posted as a junior engineer in the district irrigation department said that if all goes well, they will return by late Saturday night. The labourers will be picked from Birat Nagar, which is 7 km south of Nepal connecting with neighbouring Bihar.
“As per the directions from state government here, Nepal authorities will facilitate transportation of labourers till Biratnagar from where we will receive them. A two member medical team is also travelling with us besides half a dozen security forces. The medical team will scan the medical status of all the labourers there before bring them back,” he said.
“All the returnees will be kept at an indoor stadium in Dumka after their arrival first and following their health check-up and other procedures, they will be sent to their homes,” read the statement issued by the chief minister’s office.
The state government learnt about the stranded labourers on Thursday after their video went viral on social media requesting for rescue. In the video, which went viral on social media on Thursday, one of the labourers was seen saying that many of his co-workers are down with Covid-19 like symptoms but aren’t getting any help from the local administration. Nor is their local employer helping. They also rued about shortage of money seeking assistance to return back to their villages in Ramgarh block of Dumka.
All the labourers had gone to Nepal to work in a hydro power project at Sindhupal district of Nepal and are stuck in Gauri village for many days without assistance due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown in Nepal. Last year too, many among these 26 labourers were rescued from Nepal during first wave of covid-19. Earlier this year, they had again returned in search of livelihood.
