After students, UPSRTC ferry stranded locals of Madhya Pradesh from UP's Prayagraj

Rajiv Mani | TNN | Apr 30, 2020, 18:11 IST

PRAYAGRAJ: After sending over 7,500 stranded students back to their homes in around 30 districts of the state, the district administration today started evacuating the stranded labours of various cities of Madhya Pradesh. Around 60 buses have been pressed into service and over 1,200 stranded persons, including labours, nomads, saints etc are being sent back their homes. Likewise, authorities have also made arrangements for the stranded labours coming back to the city from MP.
Since morning, the district administration had started the process of collecting all the migrants, stranded at various localities of the Sangam city and all were brought to campus of Anglo Bengali college of civil lines.
Those who wanted to go back to their native places included labours, nomads and even saints who usually live around Sangam area. Likewise, there were several localities in the city where the nomads had made shelters on roadside.
Before boarding the buses, all the passengers were checked by thermal scanner and details of each on them was noted down by the administration.
“We have made provision of over 60 buses to ferry labours and other stranded people of MP and more buses would be pressed into service if the requirement comes”, said regional manager of UPSRTC, Prayagraj. Despite being vulnerable to virus, hundreds of employees and officials of UPSRTC are working tirelessly in the front to make sure that the stranded people reach back safely to their homes, he added.
Taking of the psychological problems being faced by these migrant labours, clinical psychologist posted at Motilal Nehru divisional hospital, Dr Ishanya Raj told TOI, “Among different problems all of them are worried about their financial conditions because chunk of them rely on daily earning, which could be anything around Rs 300 to Rs 400 and because of lockdown and with no saving, no contact with home, family, parents they are apprehensive of bleak future”. They are left to mercy of administration which they think will not last forever in this uncertain and bleak future, she added.
The psychologist, who was involved in counselling many labours further said, “Most of the labour suffer with feeling of hopelessness, worthlessness and even depression as they were apprehensive of the fact that what will they do when they reach to their native village”. They were equally worried as to will they be able to come back again in this city once things comes back to normal, will the work ever start, she added.
Commenting on the mindset of these labour, Dr A K Mishra, the psychiatrist, posted at the same hospital and who have interacted with the labours, said, “One of the labour told me that he do not wish to live because he is of no use to his family and parents, which are waiting for him back at the village, at this crucial juncture of pandemic, what will happen to them if I catch this virus, who will feed them, what will happen to his kids who are too small as he is the only source of income”.
Likewise, the authorities had made arrangements at the campus of CAV inter college of MG road. These arrangements have been made for the stranded persons coming to city from various cities of MP. These passengers will have to go a detailed check-up before dropping them to different villages of the district and those of the neighbouring districts.