Employers go all out to lure back migrants

Chandauli: Naubatpur check post on UP-Bihar border is nowadays seeing an unusual rise in the movement of buses from Gujarat and Maharashtra. While most of them are coming from Bihar, Bengal and Jharkhand, carrying passengers to their workplaces in the two western states, some originate from nearby districts as well.
Sipping tea at a roadside dhaba, Mehar, from Burdwan in West Bengal recalls his journey back home five months ago when Covid enforced a total clamp down.It was a treacherous trek after being cold-shouldered by his employer, a diamond merchant in Surat. Now, the same employer has facilitated his return with advance salary, paid travel and sponsored Covid test.
Names change but it's a similar story. In March and April, they all were forced to leave what was their abodes for years. Some walked a thousand kilometre, some cycled and more fortunate ones, like Mehar, managed to board a train. Now they are being lured back by their employers, who are now in unlockdown mode and need their trained artisans back. The Chandauli border plays stopover for the buses — and sometimes trucks —coming from eastern states.
On Sunday, scores of workers had stopped their bus for a small refreshment at Naubatpur check post. They are mostly jewellery artisans from West Bengal districts, on the way to Rajkot in Gujarat. Cleaner of the bus, Ismail, told TOI that his owner had sent 'sleeper coaches' to Kolkata paying for the to-and-fro journey to bring the workers. They were not charged a penny. “After the lockdown, jewellery units of Rajkot and adjoining cities were closed. I and many members of my group became jobless and decided to return. But, my elder brother did not return home. When the jewellery units restarted he asked me to return,” Mehar said.
A senior member of the group, Mustaqifur, said, “It was a difficult time for us being at home without a job. Hence when the call for coming came, we decided to grab it with both hands.”
Javed, another member of the group, said he had worked in Gulf and Mumbai before reaching Rajkot to join a jewellery unit when lockdown started. “It compelled me to go back home. Now, when other labourers started going to Gujarat after reopening of industrial units I also decided to join them,” he added.
Sitting at a dhaba along national highway-II, members of Mehars group said they all had returned home by a special train in May and June.