Picture of migrant walking from Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh to his home in Chhattisgarh carrying two kids goes viral

TIRUPATI: The picture of a migrant worker carrying his two infant children on his shoulders tied to a stick, who embarked on a 1300 trek from Kadapa to his home at Chattisgarh , has gone viral on Twitter over the last few days.

While the miseries of tens of thousands of migrants stranded across several cities amidst a nationwide lockdown remains untold, the 40-year-old migrant's saga unfolded in Andhra Pradesh , after a local cop who was moved by the plight of the migrant worker stepped forward as a good Samaritan to help them with whatever was in his capacity.

Speaking to TOI, head constable I Jagadeesh Kumar said he noticed a family of 8 with two infants were walking in the red hot sun near Adoni-Yemmiganur route on May 15 and was moved by their plight.

''The head of the family who identified himself as Bihari was carrying his two infant children in a Kavadi and the entire group who were stranded at Kadapa were on their way back to their native in Chattisgarh on foot. I told them they will starve to death if they continue to walk under the red hot sun and advised them to approach the district collectorate at Kurnool for help. But they insisted that they will somehow manage to reach Hyderabad from where they will board a train back to their home state Chattisgarh'', the cop pointed out.

Later, with the help of some friends in the police department, we provided some food, drinking water, biscuits and some cash to the migrant families. We helped them board a truck heading towards Kurnool and specifically told the driver not to charge any money from them for the favour.

''I have shared my mobile number with Bihari and asked him to call me in case of any difficulties enroute their journey to their home state. Every single day, we continue to see several migrant workers trekking back to their home states. We at the police department are trying out best to provide whatever possible help within our capacities to comfort the migrant workers'', Jagadeesh Kumar told TOI.

Despite the tall claims by the ruling governments, such stories project the harsh realities on ground even as thousands of migrant workers continue to 'walk' back to their home-states every single day as Shramik rails or special trains could provide solace only to a marginal number of migrant workers, while many continue to remain stranded across several states even today.