Migrant workers beat quarantine blues, paint govt school in Unnao

LUCKNOW: A small group of migrant workers, all highly skilled in white washing and POP design work, and returning from Hyderabad repaired and painted a government school in Narayanpur village of Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh.
The school was the quarantine centre for migrants of the district returning home.
"Vinod and Arun are residents of Nawazkheda, while Kamlesh is from Narayanpur.They were quarantined on April 22 and did not have anything to do. They got bored living in isolation in the quarantine centre and asked if they could engage themselves in any constructive activity," said village head Raju Yadav.
But the three could not be given any task as it would have meant violation of quarantine rules. As days passed the three turned restless.
"They were on the verge of desperation and confessed to us that the thought of running away from quarantine was constantly nagging them. So, in order to divert their mind, we asked them if they would like to paint the school building," Yadav said.
The white wash and wall painting of the school building was already planned during summer holidays but could not be done on schedule due to the lockdown.
"The three migrant workers were skilled in white washing and POP work and earned their living through same. They had worked in several construction companies in Hyderabad and so they happily agreed and finished the work quickly," said village development officer Dhirendra Rawat.
Vinod, Arun and Kamlesh said that the repair and painting was their way of saying thanks to the villagers who took good care of them.
Their work was lauded by locals who gave credit to the three migrants through a wall writing.
Senior officials also praised the workers. Commissioner, Lucknow division, Mukesh Meshram said, "Instead of sulking during the trying times, everyone got together to find a constructive solution which has benefitted the society at large."
Officials also said that this was the firdt such incident in UP. A similar incident was reported in Sikar district of Rajasthan earlier.