NEW DELHI: They are a group of 10 migrants from Bihar who have been working on a mushroom farm in Delhi.
On Thursday, like lakhs of other migrants in the country, they too would embark on their journey to return home. But unlike millions of their unfortunate brothers and sisters, they will not have to walk or cycle thousands of miles in the scorching heat, hide in trucks or scramble for berths in Shramik Specials to reach home hungry, exhausted and penniless.
These 10 migrants will fly to Patna on Thursday morning and then board a bus or train to reach their village, Sripur Gahar, in Samastipur district. This all-expenses-paid trip to their native village is being sponsored by their employer, Pappan Singh Gahlot, who owns a mushroom farm in Tigipur village in north-west Delhi.
Gahlot spent Rs 68,000 to buy air-tickets for the migrants who have been working for him and will also bear their travel expenses from Patna airport to their village. Gahlot helped the workers complete all the medical formalities in accordance with the guidelines specified for the travel. On Thursday morning, he will drop them to the airport in his vehicle.
When these men board the 6 am flight, it will be the first time that they will be sitting in an airplane. “We never thought of travelling in an airplane as it was beyond our financial capacity. We are super excited. My wife and mother are also elated as the family will not have to endure the ordeal of travelling for hours in a bus or train. We are grateful to our employer,” said Naveen, 21, who along with his younger brother Praveen, 18, joined Gahlot’s farm eight years ago.
Their father Lakhvinder Ram, 51, has been working for him for 27 years. When Lakhvinder broke the news to his wife that he and his sons would be coming by a flight, she didn’t believe him until Gahlot himself told her.
Stranded in the city since lockdown, Naveen said, “Our employer has been taking care of our food and lodging for last two months. We never had a problem, but our family members back home were worried and wanted us to return. We tried to get tickets for Shramik Special trains but couldn’t get berths. After there were reports of labourers dying in accidents on their way back home, the farm owner booked air tickets for our journey.”
Gahlot said he didn’t want his workers to go through a traumatic experience like millions of other migrants.
“I didn’t want them to travel in inhuman conditions by road and put their life in danger. When train tickets couldn’t be booked, I decided to bear the expense of their air travel. I am not expecting anything in return,” he said.
A grateful Naveen, however, said the group would surely return in August, when the season for mushroom farming begins.