Special train leaves Jodhpur for Ballia in UP with 1,151 labourers

Jodhpur: The first shramik special train for outbound migrant workers from Jodhpur left Bhagat ki Kothi station here for Ballia in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday afternoon.

As many as 1,151 workers, who were stuck here since the lockdown and had registered for returning home, boarded the train.

The migrants used to work in various industries here while some had been doing petty jobs.

All of them had been desperately been looking forward to go home after spending a lng time here with no work.

“All those migrants who had registered for travel were summoned at a government school in Sangaria in the morning through text messages on their registered phone number and were sent to the station in roadways buses after screening and checking their registration credentials,” said commissioner (JMC) Suresh Kumar Ola.

Chaos, however, prevailed at the venue as large number of migrants turned up as the word about the train leaving for UP spread. Bewildered, the administration could hardly convince them that the exercise was only for those who had registered.

Most of the workers were willing to return once the lockdown was lifted but wanted to go home as they were suspicious that the lockdown period would be extended. “I have been working in a textile unit. Earlier, I thought that work will resume after first lockdown. But it was extended twice, so I decided to leave for home,” said Mohammad Riyaz of Ballia.

Dinesh Pal from Gazipur of UP also shared a similar view. He has been living in Jodhpur for the past two years and runs a small toy shop at Nagauri Gate area.

“My shop is shut for two months and the lockdown continued to be extended. So I decided to go home as there is not much left for me to sustain,” he said, adding that he will return once things are normal.

Interestingly, some migrants left Jodhpur on foot early morning with no information about the train. Some of them were picked up by the administration by sending a vehicle for them.