A large number of out-of-job migrant workers, who were marching towards Anand Vihar bus terminal on Sunday, were stopped by the Delhi police at Sarai Kale Khan here and sent back to their respective houses in Delhi in specially arranged buses.
The Delhi police blocked a section of road at Saria Kale Khan, leading towards Anand Vihar, even for those travelling on foot. This led to accumulation of a large number of migrant workers at the spot.
Special CP R.S. Krishnia, who was at the spot overseeing the arrangements, assured the migrant workers that they did not have to go back home on foot as special buses are being arranged for them.
The Delhi police also made arrangement for meals and water for the migrant workers before sending them in batches to their location in charter buses. Due to the nationwide shutdown of non-essential services imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19 spandemic, migrant workers, most of whom work as daily wagers to support their families, have stopped getting work.
A young man, who was working as an apprentice at a local electronic shop in Dwarka, said he lost the job and now wanted to go back home. “I have nothing here. I want to go back, but you see I am stuck. I don’t know what to do,” he said while standing on the side of the road.
Waiting at the spot were three construction workers along with their wives and children, including an eight-month-old toddler. One of the men said they had walked till Sarai Kale Khan from Faridabad, but would have to head back as the roads ahead were blocked.
“We don’t know if we will be allowed back into the houses we vacated this morning. We don’t know how we are going to feed our family,” said one of the construction workers.
Another group of 11 construction workers, which had walked for four day from a village near Sirsa in Punjab towards Badaun in U.P., also got stuck at Sarai Kale Khan.
“We cannot go back as our employers have stopped taking our calls. And we cannot go forward as the roads are blocked. We don’t know what to do,” one of them said.
