A parting gift from the railways to kids of home-bound migrant workers

To cheer up the children of 5,000 migrant workers boarding trains every day, railway officials have turned to the famous Channapatna toys.

The Bengaluru division of the South Western Railway (SWR) gifted more than 700 wooden toys to the children boarding the 11 trains that left on Tuesday.

The gesture not only lit up the children's faces with joy but also left an imprint on the minds of officials. "Every day we are busy and stressed over making arrangements for migrant workers, sometimes at short notice. Today, I was so happy to see that children smiling from the windows and proud of their new possessions,” said Divisional Railway Manager Ashok Kumar Verma.

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Verma said he hit upon the idea after seeing the photographs of Shramik trains sent by his public relations team. "In almost all these photos, the children had a blank or worried look," he said.

"On top of this, they had a 60-hour journey. Adults understand the exigency of our times but the kids can't. I had an informal discussion with officials in a WhatsApp group about arranging the toys and that's how things happened," he said.

While a company sponsored some of the toys, officials worried about plastic decided to look for things that would last beyond a day in children’s hands. When one of the officials suggested the Channapatna toys, others immediately approved of them.

The wooden toys, which have got GI-tag, will make sounds in the interiors of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Assam, Tripura and many other states. “We hope their market widens,” the DRM said.

The Container Corporation (Concor) of India, which sponsored the toys on Tuesday, has decided to continue it in all other trains.

Concor Group General Manager Anup Dayanand Sadhu said: "We will continue to support the programme under our corporate social responsibility. It seems to be a good programme in times of uncertainties," Sadhu told DH.

Drawing books, footwear for children

With the help of NGOs, the railways has decided to arrange 5,000 drawing books and slippers for children travelling by Shramik Express trains.

Bengaluru Divisional Railway Manager Ashok Kumar Verma said the books would keep the children engaged in their long journey. "Many children were walking without slippers and we decided to do something. We are happy that an NGO has come forward to support the initiative. We will start providing slippers to them from tomorrow (Wednesday)," he said.