TIRUCHY: The lockdown has been tough on all migrant workers because of financial issues. Add to it a lack of support from employers and the lockdown becomes unbearable. This is the situation faced by most workers from the Northeast across the country, and Tiruchy is no different. Working in restaurants across the city, these men could not go home when the lockdown was announced. The restaurants where they worked closed during the lockdown period and their bosses switched off their mobiles, leaving these men penniless.
“We have not received our salaries for March and part of February. We came here to support our families. My wife and parents are in Tripura, worried about me staying here. I do not have any money to support myself, what will I send them,” asked Nathan Kaipeng from Tripura, who works in a restaurant.
After the lockdown, as their bosses remained untraceable, these men, 12 of whom stay together in a flat, say they did not have anything to eat for almost a week. Every time they would step out to buy groceries or soap, people would stare at them, call them ‘corona’.
“We are afraid to step out. Even our gas connection ran out and we were unable to cook for a week. Anytime we go out, we are abused, they call us ‘corona’, ‘Chinese’. We are also from this country,” said Bomalya, a chef from Tripura. These men work as chefs, in housekeeping and administration at restaurants. After starving for a long time, they called the government helpline two days ago. Police and officials from the district administration came and promised to help them. They are being given breakfast and lunch by good Samaritans. Their boss was called by the administration and he was forced to come meet them. “Our boss gave us some rice and dal. He has told us to go home after the lockdown,” said Neisai from Mizoram.