Left stranded in Leh for over two months following the nationwide lockdown, about 60 migrant workers are finally being brought back home on chartered flights by the Jharkhand government.
These workers, who were stuck in Ladakh's Batalik-Kargil sector at the time, had reached out to chief minister Hemant Soren earlier this month. Following this, Soren reportedly got in touch with the administration of the Union Territory and also wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah to permit the airlifting of these stranded migrants.
The 60 people were working in a Border Roads Organisation (BRO) project in the region. They were first screened and brought to Leh by the BRO on May 29, after a six-hour road journey, where they stayed at a transit camp overnight. They are being flown in from Leh to Delhi on a SpiceJet flight, and further to Ranchi onboard an IndiGo flight.
With this initiative, the state has become the first in the country to facilitate air travel to bring back its migrant workers while also bearing the full expense of their transport. The same comes a day after the Supreme Court directed states to ensure that migrants being ferried home should not be made to pay for their travel.
Meanwhile, the alumni network of a Bengaluru-based law school arranged for a chartered flight to facilitate the return of 160 migrant workers from Mumbai to Jharkhand on May 28. Their efforts were lauded by many, including Soren, who thanked them for their assistance.
Many migrant labourers have been left stranded across different parts of India following the sudden announcement of a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19. As economic activity came to a virtual standstill during this period, many daily wagers were left without any income to sustain themselves. As a result, labourers undertook long, arduous journeys on foot, back to their native places. Several trains were later started by the government to facilitate their movement.
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