After the news of a large number of migrant workers gathering in Mumbai’s Bandra West railway station broke out, a similar incident was reported from Surat.
The migrant workers – most of them working for the textile industry – came out in hundreds, demanding that they shoulld be allowed to go back home.
Just In: More than 500 migrant workers gathered in Surat’s Varachha area demanding that they be allowed to return their home. They are migrants employed in textiles embroidery units in Surat. @the_hindu @nistula @abaruah64 pic.twitter.com/TdC1IWEfDT
— Mahesh Langa (@LangaMahesh) April 14, 2020
In the images that are pouring in from the Varachha area, one can see the migrant workers sitting on the road.
The confusion seems to have been created because the railways was allowing people to book tickets April 15 onwards. Which made it look like it would be possible to travel back home.
A lot of migrant workers from Dhanbad are stranded in Surat. They had made train ticket bookings for 15th. When #Lockdownextention was announced, they panicked and rushed to the station. You can’t blame them for ignorance. They had no intimation from Railways https://t.co/GXRGM6LKCX
— Mayur Shekhar Jha (@mayur_jha) April 14, 2020
Migrant workers assembled in Surat too with no bags, not just Mumbai. Simply bcz Railways had sold tickets to them. Modi’s lockdown is uncoordinated.
— Ayesha Khan (عائشہ) (@AyeshaK37073936) April 14, 2020
But for media and bhakts, Mumbai chaos is a failure/conspiracy of opposition, and Surat means pple r foolish.
Hypocrisy ki height pic.twitter.com/LwxfPxZkHe
A report from NDTV quoted Surat police as saying:
These migrant workers want to go to their native places. We have asked them not to be impatient because a lockdown is in force at present.
Labourers gathered&wanted to go back to their home states. We explained to them that lockdown is extended so no vehicular movement is possible. They also complained that they’re not getting food. We called an agency which is serving food. We’re requesting ppl to take it:DCP Surat pic.twitter.com/IQVZLovEcZ
— ANI (@ANI) April 14, 2020
कोरोना के क़हर का मंजर आए दिन लाखों मज़दूरों की रोज़ी-रोटी और मुँह का निवाला छीन रहा है।
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) April 15, 2020
कल की सूरत, गुजरात की यह तस्वीर मीडिया में तो शायद न दिखें पर सरकारों की नाकामियां बयान करती है।
मज़दूरों के पलायन को रोकने का रोड मैप क्या है?#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/3PeQMmVcOx
The extension of lockdown has caused a lot of commotion in various parts of the country, and the most severely hit are the underprivileged people living off government schemes. Transparency and empathy are the need of the hour and we hope that the authorities act on it soon.
