Gurugram: 60 workers pool Rs 1.2 lakh for truck ride to Bihar

GURUGRAM: At the beginning of this week, around sixty migrant workers in Manesar’s Bass village put together every penny they had to create a pool of Rs 1.2 lakh. They have been out of work since the lockdown and after a prolonged struggle to survive in the city and desperate attempts to go home, they found a local truck driver who promised to help them bypass the border restrictions and take them home in Patna, in return for the money.
On Tuesday night, they scrambled into the back of the truck, their children in tow, and in a space barely enough to breath, they clutched on to their belongings and the hope to reach the safety of their homes.
The truck left the village but could not even manage to go beyond Gurugram. Police stopped them and asked them to get off. Scattered along the road at night, they watched the vehicle that was supposed to take them home drive off.
Ayush Kumar, one of the workers who was in the truck, told TOI that the group spent the night at the police station, restless with fear that they have lost all their money, although they couldn’t return home. “We gave away everything that we had to the truck driver, and he managed to flee while we are left behind. I heard of so many people who have managed to reach home in trucks. Why not us?” he said.
In distress, they didn’t realise that the truck driver had also been apprehended by police. By Wednesday morning, the cops managed to retrieve the entire sum from the driver and handed it over to the workers. The driver was booked for violation of lockdown norms.
Though they were relieved, they still want to go home. “We are thankful to the police for helping us get our money back, but we do not want to stay here any longer, we want to return home,” said Shah.
A senior police official told TOI that arrangements will be made to send them home in the next Shramik Special train bound for Bihar. On Wednesday, the first batch of trains with migrant workers left from Gurugram, one for Madhya Pradesh and another for Bihar. More trains are scheduled over the next week.
However, not being able to sustain any longer without a livelihood, and unaware of the government guidelines, the gullible stranded workers fall prey to misinformation and continue with such desperate measures.
Also, the waiting list for these special trains is long. “We had registered for going to Bihar, but hardly any of us got a call for the train journey. Someone told us that we will have to pay Rs 2,000 per train ticket,” said Mahesh Yadav, who worked at a restaurant in Gurugramand wants to return home in Bihar’s Gaya.