Stranded & with no jobs due to Covid-19 lockdown, labourers head home on foot, govt buses
There were chaotic scene at the border points between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh where state buses, arranged by the Yogi Adityanath government, waited to carry migrant labourers home.
File photo | A crowd of migrant workers gather around UPSRTC buses near the Delhi-Ghaziabad border | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint
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New Delhi: The 21-day lockdown has triggered a mass exodus of migrant workers from cities across the country. The workers, who suddenly found themselves without work and pay, were forced to embark on long journeys on foot in the absence of transport.
Social media has been abuzz with videos and pictures of scores of people walking along the Delhi-Meerut road. Thousands were stranded at the Delhi-Ghaziabad border, which was sealed due to the lockdown. Then on Saturday, the Uttar Pradesh government arranged for 1,000 buses to ferry them.
ThePrint’s Praveen Jain and Suraj Singh Bisht tracked their journey near the borders.
A family walks towards the Delhi-Ghaziabad border | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrint
A mother carries her son on her shoulders as she trudges along a damp Yamuna Expressway | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrintScenes such as this — a woman, luggage in hand and leading her children — have been a common sight for the past few days as migrants head to the Delhi-Ghaziabad border to catch buses to their villages | Photo: Praveen Jain | ThePrintUP police guide a specially-abled man to a bus. In the background, one can see long queues of workers waiting to board | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrintSocial distancing is a tricky thing when crowds anxiously queue up, waiting to catch limited transport. Seen at the Delhi-Ghaziabad border | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrintPeople pack into the buses arranged by the UP government. Transport has been a concern with the lockdown effectively stranding everyone | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrintPolice form a cordon at the Delhi-Ghaziabad border as migrant workers gather and wait for a ride home | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint
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Where is the private sector that either directly deploys these workers or otherwise? Can they help augment facilities for these workers to go back home in a safer way? Not just money, but can they use other resources at their disposal to additional ferrying trips for these families?
Where is the private sector that either directly deploys these workers or otherwise? Can they help augment facilities for these workers to go back home in a safer way? Not just money, but can they use other resources at their disposal to additional ferrying trips for these families?
MD Gulrez
Modi has blood on his hands. More people will die due to lack of work, food and the farther destruction of the economy.
Where is the private sector that either directly deploys these workers or otherwise? Can they help augment facilities for these workers to go back home in a safer way? Not just money, but can they use other resources at their disposal to additional ferrying trips for these families?