As TN Refuses Help, Workers From Bengal Ask Families to Send Money to Return Home

Coonoor: Construction workers in the hill town of Coonoor in the Nilgiris District of Tamil Nadu are asking their families in West Bengal to send them money to pay for their journey home. With no sight of a return of public transport and with the likelihood of an extension of the nationwide lockdown, workers have been making informal arrangements with private bus operators.

Zakir Hussain from Murshidabad in West Bengal has been told by the district administration not to expect any help from them or the Tami Nadu government to facilitate their return home. Hussain has been working as a mason for four years in Coonoor, sending home about Rs 10,000 every month. He never expected to be in a position where he would require his family to send back money.

Bus operators are charging Rs 2 lakh for a bus with 30 passengers. This is because the government has ordered that physical distancing be maintained through the journey. Four buses are slated to leave on Sunday, May 17. Hussain tells me the district administration has given permits to leave town, but he fears that the West Bengal government might not allow them to enter. Two buses have already left in the past two days.

Local police have kept constant tabs on them, sometimes visiting them twice a day. The police took down names and numbers and have been actively encouraged the workers to make their own arrangements to return home.

Also read: 'They Have Given Up': Desperate Workers in Tamil Nadu Attempt the Long Journey Home

As the workers do not have local ration cards, they have been unable to access the free rations that various state governments have provided, and neither have they received the Rs 1,000 relief from the Central government.

Hussain and his friends have been accepting any work that comes their way at construction sites to make ends meet. They have not yet figured out how their families would send across the money they need for their return journey.

Listen to them explain how they have been attempting to get home for nearly two months now.

Kunal Shankar is a freelance journalist.

Note on May 19, 2020: Responding to this report by The Wire, the Nilgiris District administration contacted the construction workers from Murshidabad in West Bengal, assuring them that transport will be arranged for free within the next ten days.

This was confirmed by the workers as well. The labourers have also been assured of food and essentials for the next ten days. The Wire has been attempting to reach the District Collector for her response and will update this story once it receives it.

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