Migrant couple: From footpath to government guest house

BENGALURU: This migrant worker couple too suffered the effects of the lockdown. But luckily for them, their story ended on a happy note. The couple from Jharkhand, who ended up staying on a footpath, were not just traced and given medical assistance, but will be ‘guests’ at a government guest house in Bengaluru.

Deepak worked at a laundry in Davanagere. His wife Kusuma is in her seventh month of pregnancy and Deepak made all arrangements to drop her at their hometown. Till they reached Bengaluru Yeshwantpur railway station, everything was fine. Their world turned upside down when just then lockdown was announced to contain the spread of coronavirus and Deepak (left) and his wife Kusuma trains were stopped. 

‘Migrant couple can stay at guest house till lockdown ends’

They were worried as they didn’t know what to do. Finally, they decided to go to Kusuma’s cousin’s house in Attibele. The cousin, who is a daily wage worker, gave them shelter for a couple of days. As he too was bearing the brunt of the lockdown, he could not continue to feed them or accommodate them in his small house and asked them to look for an alternative arrangement.

That’s when a Good Samaritan offered them a small shed to stay. On Tuesday, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown extension, he too said he could no longer offer them hospitality and asked them to see if they can look for some alternative. With no place to go, the couple took refuge on the footpath near Jain temple in Attibele. A few passersby saw them and tweeted along with their phone number. The authorities and the public started calling them intending to help them.

Unable to understand the language, they got scared and switched off the phone and went to hide in a nearby dilapidated building. The Information department and Labour department officials along with police tried tracing them, but they could not. Next day, the husband switched on the phone. The officials then could trace their location through the mobile tower, Vijay Grover, one of the Corona Sainkas, told The New Indian Express. First, they were taken to the Information department. A doctor from the ESI was called to check Kusuma. Later, the couple was given a place to stay at the Government guest house . “The couple will be allowed to stay till lockdown ends,’’ he said.