While the world celebrated International Labour Day, migrant workers from Bihar face grim future
Raxaul (Bihar) : Known for their hard work, migrant workers from Bihar have vowed to not to return to Nepal. The devastating earth quake has not only broken Nepal into pieces, but have also demoralised labourers from Bihar to leave their jobs and return to their homeland.
Fear is still writ large on the faces of migrant workers from Bihar who have returned from earthquake-ravaged Nepal. Though they are s near death,” Thakur said. He was working with a travel agency for foreign tourists, a lucrative sector in Kathmandu. He said he has lost hope for good life ahead. Sahni said he will first go home and will stay there for at least a week. “I will then move to south Indian states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala or Andhra Pradesh in search of livelihood as several people from my village and neighbouring villages are working there,” he said.
Another migrant worker, Mohd. Ashraf, in his mid-20s, recounted the tale of his survival in the earthquake that left thousands killed in Kathmandu, and said he would never go back to Nepal for livelihood. “It is a difficult decision, but I will never go to Nepal as god has given me another life,” said Ashraf, a resident of Siwan. Manoj Singh, a resident of Madhubani district, was a proud owner of a departmental store near world heritage site of Pasupatinath temple in Kathmandu, but no more. “My shop was completely destroyed in the earthquake; nothing was left…We have somehow managed to save ourselves,” said Singh.
He added he would think twice about returning to Kathmandu and re-starting his business. “I have no future now,” he said. More or less similar stories of hopelessness were narrated by Santosh Singh, Ali Hasan, Mohd. Tayab, Sohan Thakur, Mithlesh Singh and Sultan Ahmad at the camp. According to government officials posted here, every year thousands from Bihar’s districts bordering Nepal make their way to Nepal, particularly to Kathmandu, in search of livelihood.
“So far only 40,000 of an estimated five lakh people have returned to Bihar following the earthquake. Many more have been stranded there and will follow soon,” officials said.
