Migrant workers from Bengal set for reality test amidst political slugfest

Following the Centre’s announcement on May 1 of operating special trains to send stranded migrants back to their homes, Hriday Mandal is oscillating between hope and despair.

On Saturday (May 9) morning the zari worker from Bengal, now stranded in Mumbai, woke up to a shocker, with Union home minister Amit Shah claiming that the West Bengal government was not keen to bring back the stranded workers.

For the past couple of days similar claims were doing rounds on social media as the BJP state leaders were questioning the sincerity of the state government to facilitate return of the migrants. The party’s state president Dilip Ghosh even went to the extent of claiming that the state government gave a nod to run a train from Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan just to ensure return of stranded pilgrims from a minority community.

Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury too on Thursday (May 7) claimed that railways minister Piyush Goyal had told him that apart from two trains — one from Rajasthan and another from Kerala — the Bengal government did not ask for any more trains.

Related news: Apologise or prove allegations: TMC on Shah’s migrants’ trains letter

These claims had rattled many migrant workers such as Mandal. Shah’s letter to chief minister Mamata Banerjee only reinforced their worst fear of being abandoned.

By evening Mandal, however, found some ray of hope as the state government finally announced steps being taken to ensure their return.

10 trains, 1000 buses arranged

Home secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay told the media that arrangements were being made for ten trains and over 1000 buses to ferry the stranded people.

According to Bandyopadhyay, a set of trains would bring migrants from Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, and Punjab.

The buses would bring back those stuck in neighbouring states of Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Assam, and Sikkim.

The home secretary also claimed that already about 20 thousand people had returned to the state. Most of them had come in smaller vehicles and buses by availing the entry passes issued by the state government online.

The TMC spokesperson Derek O’brien showed letters the state government had purportedly written to Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and other states between May 3 and 7 for facilitating the return of migrant workers, to debunk Shah’s claim.

Joining the slugfest, the railway ministry on Saturday evening in a series of tweets claimed that after a request from the home minister, the West Bengal government gave approval to run to the state three trains from Karnataka, two each from Punjab and Tamil Nadu, and one from Telangana.

Related news: WB feels lockdown pinch as monthly revenue drops by ₹5,000 cr

The ministry also stated that so far no approval was given by the state to run a single train from Maharashtra, the worst COVID-19 hit state.

Amidst these claims and counter claims there got buried a bigger reality which will ultimately determine the fate of migrants like Mandal, feel labour leaders.

The exit process

On May 4, Mandal, along with 29 others in his group filled an exit form, giving their personal details and phone numbers at Malad West police station in Mumbai. They had to also submit a copy of photograph, a photocopy of Aadhaar card, and a medical certificate each.

“For the medical certificate we had to pay ₹100 to the doctor,” Mandal said.

On the same day, the group also registered their names on the West Bengal government website (https://wb.gov.in) for the “entry pass.” Since then the group has been waiting to board the ‘elusive train’ to reach their home at Basanti in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district.

The trade unionists citing data say, Mandal will be extremely lucky if he finally reaches home. They say getting a ticket to board a ‘Shramik Special’ train is almost akin to winning a lottery.

Trade union leaders skeptical

From Bengal alone about 2.5 lakh people are stranded outside. To bring all of them back by a few buses and trains will take months, the labour leaders point out.

“Several lakhs of laborers from various states are now stranded in different parts of the country. But I am afraid with a few trains that are being run now, it is not possible to evacuate them all. The government needs to increase the frequency of trains for all states,” said Baij Nath Rai, former president of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS).

The labour leader associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)’s affiliate BMS felt that the crisis could have been averted had the government planned the lockdown better.

He suggested that apart from enhancing the number of trains, the government should also make arrangements to engage labourers in home-based and cottage industries to save their livelihood.

“If jobs can be arranged and cash is transferred to their account then many migrant workers may prefer to stay back in the cities where they are stuck at present,” Rai opined.

General secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) Amarjeet Kaur too made a similar observation.

Related news: Credibility takes a hit as Centre, Bengal COVID-19 stats mismatch

Stating that the government’s plan of handling the current migrant-workers’ crisis had been inherently flawed she said instead of blame game, there should be better coordination between the Union government and the state governments and also among the different state governments.

But she feared that there was a “tacit understanding” between the industrial lobbies and the government to scuttle the return of migrant workers.

“This (understanding) is again based on the false assumption that the workers if allowed to go home will not come back. But the reality is that many workers, who had returned home in December- January, are now eager to go back to work. So there will also be reverse migration,” she said.

To flay the government’s dealing of the crisis, the AITUC will observe May 11 as a protest day.

Isolation worry

Another factor weighing in the minds of the state government is the possibility of migrants bringing back viruses with them, though no one in the government will publicly admit it.

Seven persons who had returned from Ajmer to Malda district on Tuesday (May 5) night tested positive for COVID-19, sending the district administration into a tizzy.

Besides, the homecoming of migrants would bring in their trail a challenge for the government for their isolation. The state at present has 582 institutionalised quarantine centres. Each district has the capacity to accommodate anything between 3,000 and 6,000 in the government-run centres.

As per the data with the state government, each district should be prepared to receive 10 to 15 thousand migrants. So, the government will have no other choice, but to send the returnees to home quarantine. But the move is likely to receive public ire as has been witnessed in Malda after 225 people were sent to their villages for home quarantine.

Against the backdrop of all these complications, it remains to be seen when a train from Mumbai brings Mandal home, that is, if at all he gets lucky.