Gujarat: Anguished migrants get measure of relief

Himanshu Kaushik & Yogesh Chawda | TNN | Updated: May 3, 2020, 10:50 IST

Dharoj Yadav’s son was born on March 23, a day after the Janata Curfew on March 22. However, the baby was not keeping well and Dharoj, a painter, had used up all his savings to treat his son.

Dharoj Yadav’s son was born on March 23, a day after the Janata Curfew on March 22. However, the baby was not ...Read More

AHMEDABAD: Dharoj Yadav’s son was born on March 23, a day after the Janata Curfew on March 22. However, the baby was not keeping well and Dharoj, a painter, had used up all his savings to treat his son.
On Saturday, when the first Shramik Express left for Agra from Ahmedabad, Dharoj’s friends had to help him to buy railway tickets. “The pandemic has shattered me personally, and today I am leaving for my native, Baliya in Uttar Pradesh. My sole hope is that my extended family in my ancestral village will help me out.”

The train was flagged off on Saturday by Gujarat’s minister of state for home, Pradipsinh Jadeja.
“After a week of his birth, my son had jaundice and was kept in a paediatric ICU. I lost all my savings in his treatment and today I had to borrow money from friends on promise that I will send the money, even if I don’t return,” said Dharoj. He said his father works in the village as a labourer and he will join him in the fields if his paint work does not click in UP. He said he had been scared of losing his son to Covid-19, which was spreading in Ahmedabad.
Atul Verma, along with his seven roommates, left for Agra. Verma, who stays in Ambedkarnagar, said that he received his salary from a denim factory, but he and his colleagues were not sure if their jobs were secured or not. “We aren’t sure of the factory being able to pay next month’s salary without running, as the lockdown continues. So, we decided to return to our native. Wheat has been harvested at our native, and it is yet to be sold. At home, the family will at least get to eat, but here we’d have to go hungry,” Verma said.
Abhishek Singh, his father and brother were working in a private dairy in Dholka. He said the dairy had been closed since lockdown, but the owner had made arrangements for their food and stay. “But when we heard that all migrants were leaving, we too decided to leave. My brother was to get married on April 10, but due to the lockdown it was cancelled. We will fix another date and return when things get normal, and if the owner wants us back,” Singh said.
Hira Ali, a construction labourer said, “There is no work here and survival was becoming an issue without any income. It is better to die at home near family than die here alone. The cases are increasing, and we have inquired and found there were few cases in our district. My family talked to our sarpanch about our return, and he had said he will get them checked properly.”