Film director steps in to help migrants reach home

Visakhapatnam: Hyderabad-based film director Aneesh Daniel has been helping migrant labourers reach their home town.

Till now, he has sent more than a 100 labourers, both men and women aged between from eight to 80s.

Besides, Daniel with the help of his friends, has managed to collect around Rs 50,000 to book a truck for around 45 migrant labourers from West Bengal whose houses have been destroyed in cyclone Amphan.

His wife shanthi too has joined her husband. “I decided to distribute sanitary napkins among the poor women walking day and night to reach their homes,” said shanthi.

It began when Daniel was on his way to Visakhapatnam to pick up shanthi. He spotted a few migrant labourers walking home. Moved by their plight Daniel decided to stay back in the City of Destiny and help such labourers.

“While I was on my way to Visakhapatnam from Hyderabad, I noticed a group of migrant labourers travelling under the scorching sun. I had an umbrella in my car and I gave it to a young girl in the group and she was happy. Seeing her smile, I decided to stay back in Visakhapatnam,” he said. But, unlike other volunteers, Daniel did not want to offer food or money to them. Rather, he wanted to help them reach home.

“The best possible way to help them out was to arrange transport for them. I started spending time at the NAD crossing negotiating with the lorry drivers to take them home. I also decided to distribute umbrellas so that they can protect themselves from the scorching sun,” said Daniel.

“I would say the truck drivers are the real heroes of ‘lockdown’ India. Many of them did not accept money. Rather they cooked food for the migrants,” added Daniel.

Daniel is the director of the acclaimed English movie “The Least of These”, based on the story of Graham Staines - the Australian missionary who was killed along with his two sons in Odisha in 1999.