Around 30 stranded migrant workers from Bihar uploaded a video appeal online on Friday here, asking the local administration and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for help in providing them with daily ration.
Motilal Kushwaha, 35, a painter by profession from Bihar's Bettiah district in West Champaran, said around 30 migrant labourers have run out money and food items due to the ongoing lockdown, forcing them to make the video appeal.
“We are having biscuits in our meals. We have no cash to return home. We are unable to buy daily food items. I appeal to the PM to intervene and help us in shifting to Bihar or in providing food items. It's getting difficult for all of us here,” Mr. Kushwaha told The Hindu.
These 30 labourers arrived in Srinagar in the first week of March and are staying in a two-room accommodation, run by Shakeel Ahmad, in Shalimar area, 14 km away from Srinagar's main commercial hub.
‘Not allowed to move’
“We have been coming to Kashmir for over a decade now. We could fetch good money here. However, since we arrived here we just worked for a couple of days and it suddenly stopped due to the lockdown. We are not allowed to move around nor have access to food,” said Manoj Kumar, 42, from Bihar's Bettiah district.
These workers earlier managed to get in touch with Member of Parliament Kedar Nath Singh of the RJD from Baniapur constituency. “The MP's intervention did help in the third week of March. We were provided with around 30 kg of rice and some vegetables by the local administration. However, it's a prolonged lockdown and we are again running out of essentials,” said Moti Lal, another labourer.
Kashmir hosts over four lakh non-local labourers annually.
