Migrants forced to beg, borrow to buy return tickets home

Hemanta Pradhan | TNN | May 5, 2020, 04:46 IST

Bhubaneswar: Migrant labourers keen to return to Odisha from Gujarat, Kerala and Karnataka are forced to shell out huge sums.
Those travelling in buses from Surat to quarantine centres in Odisha have to pay between Rs 3,000 and Rs 3,500 for a ticket. Labourers returning home in Shramik special trains have to pay between Rs 500 and Rs 800 per person.
Judhistir Behera, 38, from Tamasheragada village in Ganjam’s Jagannathprasad block paid Rs 12,600 for three seats in the bus. “I work in the textile industry in Surat and earn Rs 18,000 per month. My wife and younger brother live with me. We spent all the savings between March 22 and April 26. To buy the tickets, I had to mortgage my wife’s gold ring,” said Judhistir, who arrived on May 1.
Usharani Pradhan, 54, who is staying at Pandesara in Surat, said she along with her husband and two sons are desperately trying to return to their village, Brahmagiri, in Puri district. “I borrowed Rs 5,000 from a relative to buy the tickets. I waited at the station on Sunday to get tickets but failed. My husband is trying to get the tickets by Tuesday,” she added.
She said her two sons, who work in the textile industry, do not have work since March 22. “Whatever money was left with us, we bought ration and food. We have to return home to survive,” she added.
Harihar Pradhan from Puri district also wants to return to Odisha with his family from Surat. “I have given Rs 4,000 to a person for four tickets in Shramik Special trains. Though some people say that the ticket price is Rs 710 from Surat to Jagannathpur in Ganjam district, I don’t know why the person took this amount,” he added.
Odisha Congress chief Niranjan Patnaik on Monday said migrant workers are selling off their valuables to buy tickets. “I urge chief minister Naveen Patnaik and his government to share their details so that Odisha Congress can help them buy tickets,” he added. Former Union minister Srikant Kumar Jena also requested the government to bear the ticket cost.
The Centre clarified that 85% of the transportation cost is borne by the railways, while states have to bear the rest. “We have not received any communication to bear the ticket cost of the migrant labourers so far,” said transport minister Padmanav Behera.