Migrant workers demanding trains for return to Bihar take to streets in Saharanpur
May 17, 2020
Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 17 : Worried by uncertainty over the availability of trains to enable their return to their native places in Bihar, thousands of migrant workers took to the streets and started walking on the Saharanpur-Ambala highway on Sunday morning.
The district administration, upon learning about the movement, reached the spot and tried to pacify them with assurances of trains being made available in the coming days.
The worried migrants, however, refused to relent following which Divisional Commissioner, Sanjay Kumar, arranged for buses to take them to Bihar border, from where the respective district administration from the neighbouring state will make arrangements for their return.
"Today at 7 am it came to our notice that thousands of migrant workers have started walking on the roads. We were sending them through trains, in batches, for the past two days. But today there are no trains as the permission could not be received from the Bihar government. We tried to assure them of being sent back safely but they are worried and want to reach their homes as soon as possible," Kumar told reporters here.
"We then held talks with them and arranged for buses to take them to their native places in buses scheduled for the border areas of their respective districts in Bihar. We are coordinating with the District Magistrates (DMs) in Bihar to make provisions for their travel from the Bihar border to their homes," he added.
The migrant workers, meanwhile, said they had no other demand other than reaching their homes to be reunited with their families.
Sonu, one of the migrant workers, told ANI, "We were working in a company here, after two months the owner asked us to leave. We were living for the past 10 days in the Saharanpur Ashram. Our food and other provisions were taken care of there. But today we got to know that there are no provisions for those belonging to Bihar, therefore we took to the streets to return home."
"We want to return to our families, how can we survive here without food and cash," he added.
Meanwhile, according to the Divisional Commissioner, around three thousand migrants would be taken back to Bihar through buses today to their home towns.
