Hundreds of migrant labourers from West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar working on constructing the Natham elevated flyover gathered in large numbers on Alanganallur main road, urging the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government to help them go back home, here on Wednesday morning. Most said that they did not get their salary for the month of April and were losing their stock of food.
Anarunya Aziruddin, one of the workers from West Bengal, said that most were facing hostility from residents of Oomachikulam - the area where they reside- as they are seen as intrusions. “Although shopkeepers do not say much when we sometimes step out to buy vegetables, people often say ‘Corona, Corona’ when we arrive,” he said.
Like him, several workers from North, East and Western India have been struggling to head back home. While some people have found means to go back through help from the government, several others have been using private transportation to head back. Everything comes at a cost, they say.
Sandeep Maithi, a resident of West Bengal says that hundreds of people from different parts of India have been thronging the Collectorate in a hope to somehow either acquire an e-pass for travel or a berth on any train heading back to his State from Chennai. Sandeep belongs to the Sri Bengali Durgadevi Welfare Association.
“On Monday, I visited the Collectorate and got around 2,000 forms for our brothers from our association to fill. By filling the form, we will get inter-State e-passes,” he says. After Mr. Sandeep distributed 1,200 forms to people from Bengal, he says he gave the other 800 forms to other migrants from Rajasthan. “They too are just as desperate to go back,” he says.
Sonam Kunti, a goldsmith who works with a small-scale jeweller near Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple, is from West Bengal’s Asansol city, says that those who procured e-passes paid a total of ₹ 8,000 each to secure a berth in a private bus plying from Madurai to West Bengal.
“Two busses carrying 90 people left yesterday. Those who have the money can go back. Many others I know are deeply in debt and are still looking to borrow. It is a bad time for us,” he says.
All workers say that they have applied online long ago but are yet to get any response.
Collector T. G. Vinay says that a total of 23,167 applications to go back home have been registered through the Tamil Nadu government portal but there are several hundred duplications. The district administration is working to eliminate these duplications and sending information of these migrants by combing through the available list. They are also compiling a list of migrant workers who have registered directly with the district administration through tahsildars, village administrative officers and officers at the Collectorate.
According to the Collector’s estimates, there are 4,000 applications from West Bengal but only 3,500 without duplication. While 3,410 have registered from Bihar, only 2,800 are valid. For Rajasthan, 4,900 have registered but only 4,400 is the real estimate of people looking to go back. Only 1,330 people from North Eastern States, including Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya have registered. The rest are from Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and other States.
The Collector says that as soon as they get approval from respective State governments to receive the workers, buses will be arranged to take workers from Madurai to Chennai. They will travel by State government arranged trains, he says.
“We have already sent 27 people in a bus to Meghalaya today. Yesterday, we sent migrants from Manipur and Sikkim. We are attending to the crisis,” he said.
