Despite unlocking, labourers continue to return to villages

Nagpur: Ram Singh comes out of the railway station with a group of six others, including children. Some men follow them asking if they need a transport. “We have no money,” he tells them. The group had boarded the train at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. From Nagpur, they were heading to Seoni in Madhya Pradesh.

If not in thousands walking on the highways like before, labour migration continues in small groups even as many states have entered the unlock phase. With trains starting, those like Ram Singh continue to make their journey homewards, while some are also seen heading back towards cities from their villages where they had returned during the lockdown.

“Limited number of trains are halting at Nagpur. Yet no less than 100-150 labourers alight each day. Most have no money to reach their homes in Madhya Pradesh or Chhattisgarh. We drop them till the highways and ask the truckers to take them further,” said a local who used to work as an auto driver. “Our condition is worse. We cannot ply due to the ban,” said one of them.

Ram Singh and his group had worked in a juice factory since March. After managing throughout the lockdown, they finally left for Seoni. Mahesh Kumar and his friends had gone to Visakhapatnam after the lockdown ended, to work in an aluminium factory. “We were duped. They did not pay us wages. All we got was money for food in the beginning. We got money transferred into our accounts from our homes and bought a ticket to Nagpur,” he said. They were heading for Mandla district and planned to walk down rest of the way.

A family from Chhattisgarh waited to board a train to Secunderabad. After staying in their native village where they had returned to during lockdown, they were heading to the city again. “The contractor called us saying there is work,” said the man.