With restrictions eased, lakhs of migrants clamour to leave city

Migrant workers wait to board a special train to Jaipur at the Chikkabanavara railway station. DH photo/B H SHIVAKUMAR

A health worker reads the temperature of a migrant woman, who came to board a KSRTC bus to reach her home town. DH photo/Anup Ragh T

Nearly all of the 2.08 lakh surveyed migrant workers in the city are scrambling to leave for their home regions as the state eases its lockdown restrictions. The departure means at least a six-month blow to manufacturing and construction activities, insiders said.

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Trade union representatives, industry experts and welfare activists, who have the pulse of the migrant population reported two central factors driving the exodus: a lack of money and a psychosis of fear around the unexpected emergence of Covid cases in certain areas, as illustrated by the outbreak in Hongasandra.

According to the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, Suresh Kumar, close to 35,000 migrant workers left the city in 24-hour-period from Sunday to Monday since travel bans were loosened.

“On buses, about 30,000 people left for their home villages on Sunday. Meanwhile, four special trains also transported 4,800 migrants to Jharkhand and other states. Two more trains will evacuate migrants to Rajasthan and Bihar today, plus 550 buses will also operate to other destinations,” the Minister said on Monday.

Trade union representative, Vijay Bhaskar, General Secretary of the AITUC, described the mood of the migrant workforce as anxious and tense. “Many workers are in a hurry to return to their home villages, lest they die unknown in the city, of the disease,” he said.

Many may not return

H M Gopal Gowda, State Vice President of the Centre of India Trade Union (CITU), said he expected upto 2 lakh of the workers to leave the city, which will have serious implications for the construction industry, the manufacturing sector (especially MSMEs) and even small business like restaurants.

About how many fleeing migrants will eventually return, no one seems to know. The consensus among union leaders and industry experts is that many will not return. “The situation will only become clear after four months,” said N P Swamy, President of the Karnataka State Construction Workers Central Union.

Suresh Hari, Vice President of the Real Estate Developers of India (Bangalore), said that the exit of the workforce adds an uncertain new element to the Covid pandemic. “If the workforce is absent for a short period, we can recover, but if it is longer than two quarters, it could take over a year for us to bounce back,” he said.

As things stand, the situation poses severe challenges, added Sathyanand M, an AITUC member and a labour advisor for thirty large manufacturing firms in the city.

“The engineering industry, especially the automotive spare parts industry, which is made up of 50% of contractual or temporary workers will be hard hit,” Sathyanand said.

He added that all factories in and around the city, regardless of product, would be hit. “The only one to weather through the crisis is the Pharma industry which also has many temporary workers,” he added.

'Secretive trains worsening situation'

Trade Union Leaders lambasted the secretive system of providing train tickets to migrants seeking to leave the state, saying that this was exacerbating a climate of fear.

“There is no information being released to the public domain on how to purchase the tickets, at what time these special trains leave and how many people are permitted onboard. Instead, police contact migrant workers directly via their phones, using numbers provided by labour contractors,” said Vijay Bhaskar, General Secretary of the AITUC.

“Had this process been done in the open, with a schedule released, much of this panic could have been avoided,” Bhaskar added.

Bhaskar and other trade union leaders said that close to 15,000 migrants were being held in Freedom Park because there were not enough trains to repatriate them to their home states.

N P Swamy of the Karnataka State Construction Workers Central Union pointed out that since there is no possibility of transporting two lakh migrants to their home states in the next few days, the discussions are underway to have the Labour Department give these people Rs 5,000 for the next three months.

“At least in this way, the people will have some money and with construction activities resuming, they can also work until the transport grid stabilizes to get them back home,” he said.

E-passes for travel to districts

People wishing to travel from Bengaluru to other districts on their own can get travel passes online.

Police said these are one-way, one-time and one-day passes. On two-wheelers, only the rider will be allowed. Light motor vehicles can have three adults, including the driver, and two children aged under 12.

Go to kspclearpass.idp.mygate.com, submit your phone number and get a one-time password (OTP). You'll have to enter your personal details, including vehicle number. The pass can be shown at the district checkpoint. You can continue the journey after clearing a medical checkup.