'I wish I was with my family': Migrant workers in shelters long to return home

State governments are looking to shelter migrant workers either in government-run facilities or at their place of work.
'I wish I was with my family': Migrant workers in shelters long to return home
'I wish I was with my family': Migrant workers in shelters long to return home
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By the afternoon of March 29, Krishna had seen enough. The 25-year-old daily-wage labourer working in Kanad in Kerala's Kannur district decided to pack his belongings in a rucksack and began walking with a small group of migrant workers towards Makkuta, the border town in Kodagu district of Karnataka. 

“I only packed some essential items but others had packed their utensils and were balancing children on their shoulders,” Krishna says. His home is over 400 km away in Shikaripura taluk of Shivamogga. 

The group of migrant workers reached the border around midnight. They were spotted by the Kodagu police who alerted the district administration of the situation. The administration decided to shelter the migrant workers in Morarji Desai Residential School in Kodagu. 

Krishna and 87 other workers from seven districts of central and northern Karnataka were sheltered at the school. “There was confusion after the lockdown was announced (on March 25) and we were not sure if our work will continue,” says Krishna. His work involves cutting stones and he is contracted to work in construction. 

Once it became clear that the lockdown would mean he would be left without work, Krishna was desperate to return home. “My parents told me to come back home and help take care of the house or get involved in farming work instead of staying in an unfamiliar place. This was the dilemma faced by many people in our group,” says Krishna. 

He had heard about a group of 133 migrant workers from Kannur district Kerala who were spotted earlier on March 27 by the Kodagu district administration and were transported to their native places.

But on March 28, the Indian government issued directions to seal district and state borders to restrict the movement of people. District administrations were advised to make arrangements for food and shelter of people including migrant labourers at their place of work or in a government building.


Migrant workers sheltered in Virajpet, Kodagu

“Migrant labourers will now be sheltered in a facility set up by the government. A medical checkup will be done to check if any of the labourers have symptoms (of COVID-19) but they will not be sent back home,” Kodagu Deputy Commissioner Annies Joy told TNM. 

Across Karnataka, arrangements were made to shelter migrant workers either at government-run facilities or at their place of work. 

While this decision was taken with a view of restricting the movement of people, many migrant labourers do not wish to stay in a shelter or their place of work during the entire 21-day lockdown period which extends till April 14. 

The situation is similar in neighboring of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. In Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, Mohammed, a resident of Bihar had travelled south since it is the season of harvesting red chillies. However, he is now staying in a small shed provided by his contractor following the lockdown.

"They have been taking care of me properly and feeding me three square meals a day, but I miss my family. I have a wife, parents and two little girls back home in Bihar. Authorities have said that they will help us and give us ration, but in times like this, I wish I was with my family. It is difficult for me to be stuck here as I do not speak Telugu and the food is also very different," Mohammed says. 


Migrant workers in Bengaluru : Photograph by PTI

Meanwhile, 40-year-old Chandrapal, who has worked in Tamil Nadu's Tirupur district for over a decade now, is also yearning to go back to his village near Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh. 

He and 40 other migrants are currently staying at a lodge where they work and are relatively comfortable. He says they have access to food and water. "But my worry is not about myself. My aged parents are in the village with no means of income. I need to go back there so that I can help them. We have land and I can at least farm and make sure their basic necessities are taken care of," he adds. 

The other migrants along with him, who all aged between 18 and 40, echo this sentiment. "We are desperate to get back to parents, wives and children. We may not have problems right now but if we don't go back, our families will suffer," says Chandrapal.

The Supreme Court laid down directives to provide relief to migrant workers on April 1. It focused on accommodating them in relief camps and shelters, providing adequate food and medical facilities to them, and dealing with them in a humane manner. But these measures do not take into account the eagerness of migrant workers to return to their homes rather than be sheltered in an unfamiliar place, activists working for migrant rights say. 

“It is natural for workers to want to return home since there is no work anymore. They are unsure if work will resume when the lockdown ends and  want to spend this time with their family rather than stay in a place where they don’t speak the local language and have difficulty arranging food,” says Abdul Jabbar, an activist working for the rights of migrant workers in Bengaluru. “Even though government is providing cooked food, workers would prefer if ration is given instead so that people can cook the food they prefer to eat,” adds Abdul. 

With inputs from Nitin B and Priyanka Thirumurthy

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