RANCHI / BENGALURU: It’s a journey they could not have imagined. The first batch of 180 migrants from Jharkhand, stranded in Mumbai for over two months due to the lockdown, will fly to Ranchi on a special chartered flight on Thursday 6 am.
The initiative is by the alumni of the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru. Moved by the plight of migrants being highlighted by the print and electronic media, the alumni had initially booked seats for 45 workers from Jharkhand on a flight to Ranchi. It was scheduled to depart from Mumbai at 7 am on Wednesday, but was cancelled.
“Since we had already decided to help them, we thought why not book a chartered flight,” said National Law School alumn Suhaan Mukherjee, who practises law in Delhi. The team also got a fair price for the flight from Air Asia airlines. “The cost of sending the workers by bus or flight was almost the same, so we decided on this option. Then, we raised funds to pay for the chartered flight,” said another organiser.
Within 24 hours, the team had Rs 13 lakh in its kitty, and the number of passengers meanwhile went up from 45 to 180. It all started when a group of alumni decided to help the migrants. “It took only one day to collect money from our friends. Basic expense of Rs 11 lakh was collected within hours of sending the message on Whatsapp,” said Mukherjee, adding that they will try to organise more flights.