Bengaluru's National Law School alumni sends 174 migrants from Mumbai to Ranchi via flight

As migrant workers have been the worst affected by the COVID-19 lockdown, former students of National Law School, Bengaluru arranged a charter flight for as many as 174 migrant labourers who were stranded in Mumbai and wanted to go home to their native place in Jharkhand. 

"These labourers were in a miserable condition in Mumbai and nearby areas. They were the worst affected by the pandemic and the loss of jobs. In such a situation, this flight came as a great relief for them," said Ishtiyaq, one of the ex-students of National Law School. The Law School alumni are arranging some more flights for the stranded migrant labourers.

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Delhi farmer books flight tickets for workers

In another similar incident, a Delhi based mushroom farmer named Pappan Gehlot also arranged for flight tickets of ten of his workers who wanted to go back to their hometown in Bihar. He arranged their flight tickets from Delhi to Patna after all efforts to book train tickets went in vain. The migrant workers on Thursday then left from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) for Patna.

One of the workers said, "I had never thought I will get to sit in an aeroplane, our employer made the arrangements for us."

Niranjan Gehlot, brother of farmer Pappan Gehlot said, "We tried to book trains tickets but were unable to do it. Then we thought these people have been working with us for over 20 years, their journey should be safe, so we got them medically examined and arranged flight tickets for them."

Pappan Gehlot on Wednesday said he has booked tickets worth Rs 68,000 and is also giving each of them Rs 3,000 in cash so they don't face any problems when they reach their home state. "These 10 workers would have left for their homes in Bihar in the first week of April on a train but they could not go due to the lockdown," Pappan said.

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Migrant workers' plight 

Migrant workers have been among the worst affected due to COVID-19 lockdown owing to no employment, accommodation and money. They have been forced to travel back to their home states in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh among others. Thousands of migrants workers have taken to roads, walking, cycling or hitchhiking on trucks, to reach their homes since the nation-wide lockdown was imposed on March 25 to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

The Indian Railways have been working round the clock in managing the Shramik special trains for migrant workers. Railways has run more than 3500 trains carrying over 48 lakh passengers. Nearly 80% of total Shramik trains are destined for various destinations in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, according to the Ministry of Railways.

(With ANI inputs)