Rites of return

Return of migrant workers raises medical and logistical challenges

48-A-Shramik-train Home bound: A Shramik train, carrying 1, 200 passengers, arrives at Dankuni, Hooghly district, West Bengal from Ajmer, Rajasthan | Salil Bera

AT 3PM on May 2, a day after the Central government green-lit interstate trains for migrant workers, Chandan Kumar, his wife, Kiran, and their three-year-old son reached Bhiwandi railway station near Mumbai to catch a train to Gorakhpur, their hometown. They were part of a group of nearly 1,200 workers and their families who got permission to go home after being stranded in Mumbai because of the lockdown. For local authorities, it was a race against time to round up the migrants whom they were to send back—54 in a coach—in the 24-coach special Shramik train that was to run nonstop and complete the journey in 30 hours.

After waiting for almost two months, we get to go now. Why couldn’t they do it earlier? - Zakir Ali, who hails from Gorakhpur and has been working in Mumbai for 10 years

The scene outside the station was striking. Workers wearing masks were squatting on the road, waiting for their details to be verified and body temperatures checked. “After waiting for almost two months, we get to go now. Why couldn’t they do it earlier?” asked Zakir Ali, who has been working in Mumbai for 10 years. “I ended up paying rent for two months, although the handloom factory where I used to work was shut down. I have a big family back home and there are farms where I can work.” He is not planning to return to Mumbai for at least six months.

All those who wanted to take the special trains had to fill out forms which were distributed by the police in slums, community kitchens, shelters and relief camps. The filled-up forms had to be submitted to deputy commissioners of police. “The forms were made in such a way that a group of 25 to 40 people could apply together, but only one of them had to go to the police station to submit it,” said Nitin Kausadikar, assistant commissioner of police. “Six local police stations in Bhiwandi chose six playgrounds to accommodate migrants in their jurisdictions. They were then brought together in school buses for their final boarding.”

Maloji Shinde, senior inspector at the Narpoli police station, said migrants from containment areas were not considered for the trip back home. “This has been an enormous exercise and a well-coordinated effort among different entities. We are trying our best to ensure social distancing, but there is only so much we can do,” said Shinde.

But not all migrants are happy about paying for their tickets. “Why should the poor shell out money? If they can provide us with food and shelter, can they not give us a ticket to go back?” asked Murad Ansari, who is from the town of Campierganj in Gorakhpur.

Trains took back workers from at least 10 states on May 2. The first Shramik train from Maharashtra carrying 847 migrants left Nashik on May 2, reaching Lucknow a day later. Another train carried 334 migrants to Bhopal. “We were in constant touch with the assistant commissioner of Bhopal, Richa Saxena, who immediately gave us the no objection certificate (NoC). Similarly, we got in touch with the home secretary of Uttar Pradesh, who ignored protocol and responded directly to officers working on the ground in Nashik,” said Prashant Waghmare, district disaster management officer, Nashik.

Kerala, which is home to nearly 35 lakh migrant workers, saw 18,272 of them leaving aboard 16 special trains till May 5. There have been services to Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Bihar, which initially refused NoCs to trains from Kerala, came around and gave the green light on May 5. “Migrants are an integral part of the Kerala economy. The state needs them more than they need Kerala. So we must incentivise their return once the Covid-19 threat is gone,’’ said S. Irudaya Rajan, professor, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, who is part of the expert committee that advises the state government on Covid-19 related issues.

Protests by stranded migrant workers had broken out across the country during the lockdown. The most violent of these protests took place on April 29 in Telangana when around 500 construction workers—most of them from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand—damaged police vehicles, manhandled policemen and raised slogans at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad campus in Sangareddy district. Two days later, the first Shramik train in the country was flagged off from Lingampalli station near Hyderabad, carrying hundreds of workers stranded at the IIT campus. The workers were given a warm send-off by the same policemen with whom they clashed less than 48 hours ago.

As migrants start to return in large numbers, their home states are facing significant medical and logistical challenges. The West Bengal government has arranged special buses at the railway stations for the returning workers. Those with elevated body temperatures will be tested for Covid-19, while others will be quarantined at their homes for 14 days. Police stations have already been informed about returning migrants. “The police are following up with the returnees about obeying the norms of home quarantine,” said Birupakshya Mitra, block development officer at Beledanga in Murshidabad district. The police have been asked to report cases of illness to local health officials so that the state administration can take necessary action.

The Bihar government has made 21-day quarantine mandatory for all returning workers and has cancelled leaves of all doctors and health care workers, while Odisha has instructed all community centres to remain open 24x7.

WITH RAHUL DEVULAPALLI, CITHARA PAUL AND RABI BANERJEE