Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
About 60 daily-wage workers from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, desperate to go home, hired a private bus, each paying a whopping Rs 3,000 as bus fare, to reach Jharkhand.
However, when they reached Jharkhand border, they were not allowed to go further. Instead, they were all sent to the nearest makeshift quarantine facility in Barhi Jail.
More than 380 migrant labourers have been quarantined in the jail, which is new and yet to be inaugurated. Since it is not near any village, the administration thought it could serve as a quarantine facility.
While some workers were unhappy, some accepted it as necessary for their family’s safety.
Sukhdev, the sole bread-winner in his family, said they are struggling to make ends meet. At the same time, he is aware of the danger posed by coronavirus and how quickly it is spreading. Hence, he decided to get tested.
Balram Kumar Verma works in a shop in Surat. He left for Jharkhand on 2 April. He and three colleagues travelled on two bikes. They crossed four states: Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, without a curfew pass. They said they were stopped by the police at every border, their details were recorded and they were then allowed to proceed.
However, just a hundred kilometres away from their home in Jharkhand’s Giridih district, they were caught at the border by Jharkhand Police.
Despite knowing they could get caught at the border, they had undertaken the risky journey, worth nearly 1,750 kilometres, as the were running out of money.
Balram and his three colleagues were paid March’s salary. But they didn’t have enough money to make rent and decided to return home.
Did you have money to pay rent?
No, we did not have enough for rent. The government ordered that no one should ask for rent but my landlord took rent anyway.
Jharkhand Police sent them to quarantine facility in Barhi Jail. Balram requested the police to send him to a facility in Giridih so that his family could at least come to meet them. But his request was turned down by the police.
Migrant workers in Barhi Jail said they are provided food, water and space to rest. But while most Indians evacuated from abroad get housed in Indo-Tibetan Border Police camps, the question for the government is: Is class a factor in who gets quarantined where?
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