CHENNAI: Uncertainty and rumours make a perfect couple. This holds true, especially for migrant labourers who have been handed a raw deal during the lockdown. Based on a rumour that special trains were being Central station to transport them, more than 500 migrant workers began a tiring walk from Ekkattuthangal on Friday. Their hopes were dashed when police at Saidapet stopped them and told that no such trains were being run.
“A security guard at our construction site told us that five special trains have been readied at the Central and those who wanted to go home should assemble there. So, around 500 of us began walking towards the station,” said Manoj, a construction worker.
Pointing out that special trains are being operated by other States, Manoj lamented there have been no such efforts in Chennai so far. “Every day, we keep asking about the travel arrangement to our supervisors but they do not respond properly. We have submitted all the documents required for travel,” he said.
Growing impatience
After being stuck for more than six weeks in temporary camps and community halls, the labourers are becoming increasingly impatient, and some are even planning to walk all the way back home, a journey of over 1,000 km away.
“My children keep asking when I will come home and I have no answers,” said Mohammed Habib, a construction labourer from Bihar. “We do not want food or money for our transportation. But, allow us to leave. We want to go back home to our families. I came here three months ago to work at a construction site in Alapakkam but for the last one and a half months I have been sitting idle. I am getting food and shelter, but my wife, three children, parents and sister are struggling. They are completely dependent on rations given by the government,” he said.
Everyone has a similar story. Pankaj from Jharkhand said their supervisors were just giving false hopes. “Now that the construction work has started they keep asking us to return to work. But, most of us have boycotted work,” he added. With lockdown now extended till May 17, their frustration took the form of agitation a couple of days ago, when the workers began breaking glass windows of their temporary camps in Alapakkam.
“Since I have no money to send back in the last two months, my family in Jharkhand is having a difficult time,” said Akash, a migrant labourer staying at Keelkattalai. Meanwhile, a senior police officer cautioned the workers against believing rumours. If travel arrangements are made, they will be officially announced. We understand their situation but we are also helpless,” added the officer.