One-hundred-and-eighty migrant workers stranded in Mumbai because of the lockdown were flown to Dehradun on a chartered aircraft arranged by students, alumni and faculty members of the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS).

The students started a fundraiser and collected Rs 15 lakh within four days, Prashant Shukla, the president of the Students’ Juridical Association (SJA), the students’ body of the NUJS, said.

The 180 migrant workers, along with five infants, landed in Dehradun on June 19.

Transport was organised by the students, in coordination with the local administration and NGOs, to enable the workers to reach home from the airport. Similar arrangements were made to transport them to the Mumbai airport.

A section of NUJS students had started planning to help the workers after they learnt about their plight. When the lockdown was relaxed, the students got in touch with three NGOs in Mumbai for help to identify the workers, said Shukla.

“We came to know from the NGOs that 180 migrant workers from Uttarakhand were stuck in Mumbai,” he said.

The cost of flying the migrant workers on a chartered flight of a particular airline would be around Rs 15 lakh.

The students got in touch with the alumni, many of them now employed with reputable law firms and companies in India and in London and Singapore. Teachers and some well-wishers were also approached. “They all donated generously. We could collect Rs 15 lakh within four days,” said Shukla.