Migrant labourers stuck in Mumbai plead with govt to send them home

The central government should help the migrant and daily wage labourers to reach their homes as the lockdown has hit these people the most, said one of the members of Rahul Tarun Mitra Mandal association in Mumbai on Friday.

Rahul Tarun Mitra Mandal association is one of several organisations that have come forward to give food to the poor migrant labourers who have been stuck in Maharashtra since the lockdown was imposed.

"About 250 migrant and daily wage labourers are living under the bridge near Lokmanya Tilak terminus. These people have nowhere else to go than living in this filthy condition," said Mangesh Kakre, one of the volunteers of the NGO.

One of the migrant labourers, Kuldeep Kanaujia, who had come to Pune from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh said, "Due to the lockdown I had to walk from Pune to reach Mumbai. Though several organisations are coming to give us food, I request the government to send us home."

Echoing similar sentiments, Nand Kishore Shah, another migrant who had come from Bihar, said, "I have been living under the bridge for past 10-15 days. I want to reach my village as soon as possible as I have no money left with me."

Mangesh Kakre said, "Several announcements were made that somebody has donated crores of rupees to the government to help these labourers but till now nothing has been done practically."

"I request the government to arrange transport for these migrant labourers as they are left with no money to sustain themselves in the city," he added.