JOIN USCoronavirus: 58,500 non local labourers stranded in Jammu & Kashmir face tough times
At least 58,500 migrant labourers stranded in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of country-wide lockdown are in a crisis, as not only their wages have dried up, many cannot afford the rent or even food.
According to a survey by J&K Labour Department, there are 58,500 migrant labourers currently in the Union Territory. Due to countrywide lockdown, announced by the government of India to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus, they are not able to go to their native places.
Most of these workers are running out of money and food and are desperate to go back to their native places. Biju Kumar, a labourer from Bihar, could not leave Kashmir for his home due to country-wide lockdown. Penniless, he now seeks help for food and transportation.
Kumar along with two dozen other like labourers are staying in Soura area on the outskirts of Srinagar, where a local self-help group is taking care of their food. However, they are desperately seeking help from the government to evacuate them to Bihar.
“It is better to go back home rather than staying here and starving to death. As of now some good Samaritans are providing us food, but how long it will sustain,” said Kumar while hailing the locals for providing them food.
Rizvi Ahmad, a mason from Uttar Pradesh, who has been coming to Kashmir for the last two decades, says he has run out of money. “Last August, we were asked by the government to leave all of a sudden due to abrogation of Article 370. In March I came back. Since last August, I have not earned a single penny and have exhausted whatever I had earned. Now I am penniless,” Ahmad said and appealed the government to make arrangements for their travel to go back home.
However, J&K Labour Commissioner, Abdul Rashid War said they were making all efforts to help the stranded labourers. “First we conducted a census to know the exact number of non-local labourers currently in J&K. Then we established helpline for them so that they can contact and get help from the administration,” he said.
“We have already notified a number of our officers for their help; our team will take up the issue, whether it is their food or travel, with the deputy commissioners concerned and try to mitigate their problems,” War added.
Notably, last Friday two groups of labourers from Rajouri-Poonch belt crossed a distance of 100 km by foot overnight from Shopian in Kashmir to Surankote in Poonch to reach their homes.
The government of India says the shutdown of all but essential services is necessary to beat coronavirus in the densely populated country of 1.3 billion people, with health infrastructure that can ill-afford a widespread outbreak. J&K has so far reported 55 COVID-19 positive cases while two among them have died.