New Delhi/Leh: Amid heartrending stories of migrants longing to return home, the Jharkhand government on Friday gave a ray of hope to many such stranded workers by facilitating return of 60 of its natives, stuck in the snow-clad fringes of the mountains in Ladakh, by air, in a first-of-its-kind initiative by a state.
After two months of anxiety and uncertainty, the group of 60, involved in a Border Roads Organisation project in Ladakh, took a commercial flight, which landed in the afternoon in Delhi, from where they boarded another plane to go back to their home state.
While many stories of employers and organisations sponsoring the return of workers have emerged after the resumption of domestic passenger flights on Monday, this is perhaps the first time a state government has facilitated the return of so many migrant labourers via commercial flights.
After the first leg of the journey, Saul Tudu, a labourer, said he always thought there were roads in the clouds on which plane runs. “It was my first time on a plane (Leh to Delhi) and I think my flight to Ranchi would be the last experience, as I can never afford this,” he told PTI from Delhi airport.
The workers from Jharkhand’s Dumka district were stuck in Gorgodoh village of Batalik in Kargil district.
