Noor Jahan and Ashfaq along with their six years old deaf and mute daughter and one-year-old son decided to walk all the way to Bhagalpur in Bihar after they were thrown away by the house owner during the lockdown in Kharghar in Navi Mumbai. They failed to pay the rent for two consecutive months as they did not have money.
Ashfaq, 30, was working in a tailor shop, and due to lockdown, it was closed and his earnings were also stopped.
Initially, he thought that after three weeks in the first lockdown, the situation would become normal and he would start earning. However, the lockdown continued, and they exhausted all his savings to meet their daily needs.
He was living with his family in sector 11 in Kharghar and after he failed to pay the rent in two consecutive months, the house owner asked him to vacate. As he had no choice, he decided to walk all the way to his home town Bhagalpur in Bihar.
They were walking along the internal road of Kharghar when a local volunteer of an NGO SEWA Foundation noticed them. When enquired about them, the volunteer found that the family did not have money to pay the rent and even for food. Rajesh Shrivastava, founder president of SEWA Foundation said they immediately arranged foods for them. “There did not have even money to buy bread, and they had not even eaten well in the last two days,” said Shrivastava.
Initially, when the Shramik Special train was started, the migrants had to pay the train fare. The family could not go as they did not have money for train tickets. Later, the SEWA Foundation also arranged ticket fare of around Rs 2500 for three persons. “The one-year-old baby did not have clothing. We provided them with clothes, foods, and train tickets after the rush reduced in train by May end,” said Shrivastava.
“I had no option but to walk. Fortunately, some locals helped me and provided food and shelter for almost a month,” said the 24-year-old Noor Jahan to FPJ over the phone. She added they would have survived if the work continued in the tailoring shop.
