Left With No Option After Karnataka Stopped Special Trains, Migrant Workers Start Walking Home

At a time when several state governments are arranging special trains for migrants workers stranded in their states due to the lockdown to ferry them back to their native places, Karnataka took the unusual step of canceling already scheduled trains to stop them leaving.

BCCL

The BS Yediyurappa government took the decision after the Chief Minister met representatives from the construction sector who expressed fears that they will face a manpower shortage if the migrant workers left, as the state was getting ready to open up economic activity after the lockdown was eased.

This came as a shock to the thousands of migrant workers who were left with no jobs and income for nearly one and a half months who were hoping to go back to their villages on the special trains.

BCCL

Most of the migrant workers in Karnataka are from states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar.

Now, out of sheer desperation, many have started walking back home, which are thousands of kilometers away.

A group of workers from Jharkhand, who had decided to walk all the way till Jharkhand, were stopped by the police on the Bengaluru - Hyderabad road on Wednesday.

BCCL

¡°We do not want money, we do not want to work under anyone. We just want to return home and be with our family. If the government does not arrange trains, then we will go by foot,¡± Ritesh one of the migrant workers told Bangalore Mirror.

He added that about 30 men from the construction site he works at, managed to jump the gates and escaped. ¡°All of us are panicking as we do not know what to do. Those who are young have managed to flee from here during the early hours of Wednesday and have now reached the Karnataka border¡± he said.

Despite the heavy criticism and some even calling it modern-day slavery, Yediyurappa defended his actions saying that the exodus will affect the construction sector. ¡°Already, the construction work has resumed. Several members from the construction sector said that if labourers return at this juncture, it would affect them,¡¯¡¯ he said.

BCCL

Earlier, after the meeting with industry leaders, Yediyurappa had said that the builders have agreed to pay wages to workers for the entire period of lockdown and ensure all essential facilities, including safety gear, at workplaces.

Controversial BJP MP from Bengaluru South, Tejasvi Surya¡¯s defended the stoppage of inter-state trains calling it a bold and necessary move. He also went on to claim that it will help migrant labourers who came here with the hope of a better life to restart their dreams and will kick-start economic activities full throttle.