Nepali migrant workers start returning India in search for jobs amid pandemic

Kathmandu [Nepal], June 6 : Amid the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal, the movement of the country's migrant workers through the Trinagar-Gauriphanta border point alongside India has not stopped.
Despite a ban put in place by the district authorities, scores of Nepali migrant workers cross the border point on a daily basis, The Kathmandu Post reported citing the information from Armed Police Force Check Post in Trinagar.'
According to the check post data, around 200 to 400 Nepali migrant workers cross the border point into India every day. Nepali migrant workers who had previously returned home due to the spike of cases in India are returning to the neighbouring country in search of jobs.
According to the Kathmandu Post, more than 27,000 migrant workers have returned home to Nepal since April 29. Laxman Joshi, the Police Inspector of the Armed Police Force said that over 9,000 individuals have crossed the border to India in search of jobs.
Despite the halt of public transportation since April 29, migrant workers under desperate circumstances are trying to reach India for employment. Most of these workers are even paying outrageous prices for transport in vehicles with passes granted for emergency services.
"This is the fourth time that I am travelling to Maharashtra since the start of the pandemic last year," said Pahal Saud, a local resident of Pahalmanpur in Kailali, was found crossing Trinagar border point in search of a job in Maharashtra, India.
"I came home last year in mid-March. It's time I go back and earn some money. There is no source of income here."
Another local Dil Bahadur Saud said, "There are no jobs in the villages. We have to work for a living, pandemic or not. Otherwise, we will have nothing to eat."
After 99 more deaths reported today, the Covid-19 toll in the country is inching to the eight thousand mark, The Himalayan Times reported. The countrywide total covid count has reached 588,124 cases.