Migrants return to Maharashtra: ‘Kin reluctant but we can eat only when we earn’

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Mantu and some others in the group, all hailing from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, had left for their hometowns before Holi on March 9 intending to come back a few weeks later. But then Covid-19 struck.

Some in the group had left Maharashtra when the lockdown was imposed, as their employers arranged buses to take them home when work stopped. But now they are back, hopeful of finding work again, and earning a livelihood.

“Many of us were working on farms back home, as it is harvesting season. But we are more familiar with construction work and have permanent jobs here. When our contractor informed us that work has resumed, we decided to return,” Mantu said.

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Most of the men work as masons and plumbers on construction sites for setting up factories and industrial units. They said their anxiety over the spread of Covid-19 remains.

“Our families were wary to let us return to work. They would not have let us come back had our place of work been Mumbai or Pune since the numbers (number of positive cases) are high in these cities,” said Chandresh Singh, one of the 24 headed to Shirwal.

The safeguards promised now and how the employers had treated those who were stranded have been the deciding factors for those returning to work.

Last week, state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said over 15,500 migrants who had left have been returning to the state every day. According to police records at railway stations and bus stands, nearly 11,500 workers are returning to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region daily. The rest are going to Gondia, Nandurbar, Kolhapur, Nagpur and Pune.

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Labour experts said while many migrant workers who left will be forced to return due to lack of jobs back home, receiving states, as well as source states, should ensure that they are officially registered. This would make it easier for them to avail financial and other benefits from central and state governments in case of a dire situation.