Hundreds give up rented homes for Shramik trains, stranded in stadium

Gurgaon: Hundreds of migrant workers reached Tau Devi Lal stadium from across Haryana on Monday after clearing out their rented accommodations believing they would get a train home. They had received official information that seats in a Shramik Special train they had registered for weeks back had finally opened up, and they would be taken back to their home towns in the eastern states after two entire months of surviving without a livelihood amid the lockdown.
However, when they reached the stadium in Haryana Roadways buses with their families and everything they could pack, a surprise awaited them — an unpleasant one. Police were turning the buses back from the gates. They were told that far too many workers had turned up for the train that was headed for West Bengal.
Hundreds of families that had reached earlier — around 900 people in all from Bihar alone — but were not allowed to board the train jostled in the two marquees set up inside the stadium, frustrated with another round of uncertainty they found themselves suddenly thrust into.
Others waited in the buses for hours as officials decided their next step. Several buses were sent back to the districts they came from.
In the cramped tents at the stadium, infants in their parents’ laps wailed, children grew irritable, tempers rose and patience started to run out with every hour the clock ran down. One tent emptied out in the afternoon for the 6pm train but those who remained faced an overnight wait as government officials tried to scramble long-distance buses.
Civil defence volunteers brought food and water. But all that those in the tents wanted to know was when they could go home. “We hardly have any money left. We vacated our rented house, packed everything and came here. If they send us back, we will have nowhere to go,” said Sudhanshu Kuman, a migrant worker from Bhagalpur in Bihar who works in Gurgaon and waited at the stadium.
The confusion had its roots in a planning and communication botch-up. Nodal officers in at least 14 different districts were asked to bring registered workers wanting to return to Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal as the train, which has a capacity of 1,600 passengers, would cross all four states. This was done in anticipation that the train might have to leave with several empty seats, as has been the trend over the past few days. In fact, a state government official claimed that they had to cancel 11 Shramik Special trains for the same reason.
But people who had travelled from districts such as Jind, Rewari and Bahadurgarh had to bear the brunt. When TOI visited the stadium, four buses carrying about 35 people each were parked at Rajiv Chowk waiting to return to Manesar. “Many buses have been returned since morning despite coming from far off areas. But there is nothing we can do. We are simply following the orders,” said a policeman deputed at the stadium. Similarly, nine buses that had come from Rewari were sent back and four were sent back to Bahadurgarh.
Subdivisional magistrate Hitender Singh, a nodal officer, said that the capacity of the train was reduced by the railways from 1,600 to 1,400. "Besides, there was a communication gap as we had not asked for Bihar migrants but they turned up anyway. We are now arranging buses for them and they will all be on their home by tomorrow (Tuesday) morning,” he said.