For nearly a month, Madan Kumar and Akram Shaikh along with six friends are staying in a shelter provided by the district administration following the country-wide lockdown imposed to curb the COVID-19.
They are desperate to go back home in different districts of Uttar Pradesh and are clueless about their future and employment.
Mr. Shaikh and Mr. Kumar are the face of innumerable migrant workers who have lost their jobs and are faced with an uncertain future.
Working on commission basis for garment units in Bengaluru, the men lost their jobs after the lockdown and somehow reached Vijayapura city in an attempt to reach home.
“I am aware that I may not be having any work back in my home district Hapur, but as of now, I just want to go home and spend time with my family. For at least five-six months, I will not think of going back to Bengaluru,” Mr. Kumar, 28, said.
He said that his father was working as helper in a local factory. But about 10 years ago, he lost his job after he was paralysed and died a year ago.
“ In search of good source of money, I came to Bengaluru where I was earning around ₹15,000 a month, but today I am left with no money and no job,” he said.
The story of Mr. Shaikh is no different. Having dropped out after high school because of poverty, he was helping his family in supplying milk. “We are into dairy farming as we have a couple of buffaloes. But since our earnings did not meet the family needs, I had to migrate to Bengaluru for work,” he said.
Like his friends, he too faces a bleak future. However, he is determined to do something in his home district even if his earnings turn out to be limited.
“As of now, I have decided to stay back in my place itself and do something. I don’t know what, but I hope I will find some means,” he says and added that they are all eagerly waiting for the government to make arrangements for them to travel back to their homes.