Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (SB)

Mangaluru, May 28: Jokatte, an industrial area outside the city, was abuzz with activity on Thursday May 28 as hundreds of migrant workers gathered there on the basis of rumours about running of a train service to their hometown especially West Bengal by authorities.

The disappointed migrants then gathered near Jokatte railway cross and demanded to make alternative arrangements for their journey. As per sources, after the registration in Seva Sindhu app and as per authentic information from administration, they had to get prepared to travel to their hometowns. They reportedly had left their rental rooms, paid dues to groceries and packed their belongings and started to wait near Jokatte railway cross for feeder bus service to go to the railway station. Once they gathered there, a few of them received calls from police and officials of district administration stating that the train to West Bengal was cancelled.

“Now where should we go? We already left our rented houses and handed over keys to its owners. We have thrown away many items because we do not plan to return. We packed everything which could be carried in train. Today morning at 6 am we reached the pickup point. But after a two-hour wait around 8 am we got information that the train to West Bengal has been cancelled,” said Pranob, a migrant from Midnapore.

“We want to go to our hometowns and our family members are waiting for us. With a hope we locked our rooms and left to railway station. In between we got news of cancelation of train. This clearly indicates that the government is not bothered about migrants and working class. We do not know what to do and where to go,” said Ashuthosh from Singur.

Speaking to Daijiworld, Divyaraj, a local resident, said, “They are demanding to return home, which is now practically impossible. The train to West Bengal was cancelled because of unknown reasons. They had received notice that the central and state governments have made arrangements for migrants to return home, which has made them think that they can also return home. They received the train time and pickup point of feeder buses through mobile phones. But now they all are disappointed.”

The migrants continue to gather on the road sides of Jokatte with their belongings. A number of times police tried to send them back to their rooms. But majority of them reportedly have cancelled the agreement of their rented rooms and are not left with any alternative place for stay.