Purulia families mourn breadwinners killed in Uttar Pradesh

PURULIA: Milan Baddakar (22) left home in Purulia’s Dumdumi last October to work at a marble factory in Rajasthan so that he could send money for the treatment of his father, a tuberculosis patient.
Chandan Rajwar (21), also from Dumdumi, dropped out of college and became a factory worker so that his family wasn’t deprived of two square meals a day. The two young men were among four migrant workers from Purulia killed on their way home in a highway accident near UP’s Auraiya on Saturday that also claimed 20 others.
Like Milan and Chandan, Ajit Chandra Mahato (36) and Ganesh Rajwar (28) too worked at the marble factory in Mela area of Jaipur.While Milan and Ganesh had joined last October, Chandan took up the job in September and Ajit in February. Ganesh’s family lives in Jhalmamro in Purulia’s Joypur and Ajit hails from Kotshila in Jhalda. Another worker, identified as Sheikh, from Murshidabad is among the dead.
Bereaved family members said the factory stopped operations after the lockdown was announced on March 24. The four men lived at a makeshift shelter on the premises till May 14, but then like hundreds of other migrants decided to walk home.
Rajasthan Police arranged a limestone truck to ferry them along with workers from different states. Reports indicate their vehicle rammed into a stationary truck, also ferrying migrants, on NH-19.
Milan’s mother Subhashi was inconsolable. “My husband has TB, which is why my son went to Rajasthan to earn Rs 8,000 a month. He sent money home for his father’s treatment. He called us before boarding the truck and now I will never see him again,” she sobbed.
Chandan’s brother Debashis said he too worked at the same factory, but returned home in January. “My brother was a BA second year student at JK College when he had to drop out and take up the job for Rs 9,000 a month. He wanted to support the family and now he’s gone. We are numb with shock.”