Don’t want work, send us home: Vellore workers

Trouble started when a few migrant workers using their Aadhaar cards managed to board the special trains operated for patients and the attendants. When this ‘lapse’ came to the notice of top officials, it resulted in police being posted at the private hospital entrance resulting in the 300 odd migrants lodged there being unable to move out freely. Sources revealed that “though officials did bring vendors to their location, workers found the items to be costlier.”

Ratan, a worker from West Bengal said, “we want to go back as we are only provided food and have run out of money as we have no work due to the lockdown.”

“While hospital authorities were more than willing to provide work, the workers were adamant in wanting to go back and hence started complaining about various issues,” sources added.

When their agitation escalated, police officials tried to pacify them. This resulted in the workers feeling that the hospital management is preventing them from returning home. Vellore SP Pravesh Kumar told them that arrangements would be made shortly for their return. However, enquiries revealed that states’ changing stances on sending workers home was the reason for restiveness.

The exodus of migrant workers from industrial hubs of Coimbatore and Tirupur districts continues with trains being operated almost on a daily basis to various north Indian states.

A special train to Bihar will chug out of the Coimbatore railway station around 10 pm on Monday with about 1,140 passengers. This will be the fifth train to be operated from Coimbatore with guest workers.

So far, four trains have been operated from Coimbatore and one from Tirupur district. On Sunday two trains, one from Coimbatore and another from Tirupur left to Bihar with guest workers.

Each of these trains carried a standard passenger capacity of 1,140 to their hometowns in northern states. Till Sunday, about 5,700 guest workers have been sent by trains from Coimbatore and Tirupur districts. The first train from Tirupur was operated to Bihar on Sunday.More migrant workers are likely to leave in the coming days as three trains are likely to leave from Coimbatore on Tuesday. “It has been decided to run three trains, but their destination is yet to be finalised,” said an official.

The closure of large number of knitwear units in Tirupur and micro, small and medium enterprises in Coimbatore due to lockdown have led to largescale migration of workers to their hometowns.

The migrant workers in Tirupur have been protesting demanding to make arrangements to send them to their hometowns.

Meanwhile, a 20-year-old migrant worker from Odisha committed suicide by hanging in Coimbatore depressed over not being able to go to his hometown due to lockdown. The deceased identified as Bansanan hanged from a tree near his residence in Kovilpalayam area. Police said they recovered his body in a decomposed state and further inquiries are on.