This story is from May 8, 2020

Pune: Hopes crushed, migrants board trains for Madhya Pradesh & Uttar Pradesh

Thousands of migrant workers began their journeys back home to villages in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh from Pune and several other cities in Maharashtra on Shramik Express trains on Wednesday and Thursday.
Pune: Hopes crushed, migrants board trains for Madhya Pradesh & Uttar Pradesh
The Shramik Express and railway staff wait to guide the passengers at the station
PUNE: Thousands of migrant workers began their journeys back home to villages in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh from Pune and several other cities in Maharashtra on Shramik Express trains on Wednesday and Thursday.
A train, carrying 1,093 workers, left for Rewa in Madhya Pradesh from Urali Kanchan station near Pune on Thursday and will reach its destination on Friday evening.

Anup Patel from Anuppur district in Madhya Pradesh was unusually withdrawn. “I am going home, but I don’t have a job and I don’t know whether I will get one there. It is stressful,” he told TOI. He was among those going to Rewa from Pune.
They were brought to the Uruli Kanchan railway station near Pune by bus. They were filled with many worries even though they waved at Railways and district administration officials from inside their bogies as the train pulled out.
LuvKush Kevat from Sarangarh village in Anuppur, said, “I was working in a company in Pune till the coronavirus ruined it. I have not been paid for two months and have no money. There are no jobs either. It is better to be with the family and do something else,” Kevat told TOI.
Not all could board the train. Dinesh Kumar from Anjani village was told his name was not on the list and he could travel only after two days. “I came to Pune in February and was working as a mechanic here. I got my payment but my parents want me to come home,” he said.

The workers said they paid no fare and were given ‘poha’ and a bottle of water when the journey started. They were promised dinner in the train.
Another worker, who requested anonymity said, “ I hope to get a bus to or some transport to reach my village. My family is big and I was the only earning member. I want to start working. There must be a system so that people like us don’t have to leave their homes to work in far-off places.”
Elsewhere in the region, as many as 1,125 people from Ahmednagar and 1,306 migrants from Bhusawal left for Uttar Pradesh, while 130 stranded pilgrims started by bus from Manmad for Punjab. Another 520 passengers from Bhusawal and Jalgaon, 185 from Dhule, 88 from Akola, 513 from Buldhana had sought rail transport.
All passengers were screened for health conditions. Social distancing norms were followed on the platforms and in the coaches. Hand sanitizers were placed inside for their use. Every coach had only 54 passengers.
State food and civil supplies minister and Nashik district guardian minister Chhagan Bhujbal helped with the arrangements, Ranjit Singh, a traveller to Punjab, said.
A train with 1,223 people left for Bhopal from Aurangabad on Thursday and another will start for Jabalpur on Friday with workers from Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Jharkhand. They worked in Aurangabad district and in Nanded, Osmanabad, Jalna and Beed.
(With inputs from
Abhilash Botekar &
Prasad Joshi)
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