Life under the nation-wide COVID-19 lockdown has been challenging for migrant as well as resident labourers. Lakhs of labourers have been travelling back home from different states as they are running out of food and have no way to earn their bread.
On Sunday, Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) and Member of Parliament (MP) Shankar Lalwani reached Sewa Bharti Nagar to provide resident and migrant workers food and footwear.
“We have been walking for 3 days to reach our village in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and have been starving for a day,” one of the young labourers, 17-year-old Dhiraj Shukla said. Talking about his journey, he revealed that they started walking from a site in Mumbai and have walked over 584 kilometres. Shukla said that he has almost lost his willpower.
Kishore Agrawal, a 19-year-old migrant labourer said, "Getting slippers and food has given us a boost so that we can travel further to reach our homes soon." Kishore had his last meal on Friday and had not eaten since then. He said that the meal was donated by some social worker in a remote area.
“It has been a tough time, but even if we are going to die, I want to die with my parents and grandparents in the land where I was born,” Hira Sharma, 18-year-old migrant, said.
In the first group of people, there were over 150 youngsters who were travelling from Mumbai to their villages in UP. The drive continued throughout the day.
Shankar Lalwani has been discussing the problems faced by labourers and trying to find a solution for the same. He had attempted to inquire about their needs and ended up hearing about their painful stories. He also noticed their cracked feet reaffirming their tale.
