Pics: Kevin Rodrigues
News: Justin D’Silva
Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi
Udupi, May 20: A research student in Manipal, Saisri Akondi helped 49 migrant workers stranded in Udupi, to reach their homes in Telangana.
The migrant workers were brought to Udupi by a contractor for railway works. But due to the lockdown they were jobless and the contractor asked them to vacate his shelter. The distressed workers, a week before, decided to walk till Telangana and began their journey but were stopped by the Manipal police and Udupi tahshildar Pradeep Kurdekar.
The research student from Manipal Saisri Akondi met them while they were being questioned by police and convinced the workers to stay back in Udupi and assured to assist them in reaching back their state. "I was totally disturbed after seeing their plight. There were little children and a pregnant woman in the group. I decided to help them in reaching their home. As a temporary measure, they were provided space to live near Udupi railway station. Humanitarian Relief Society and Manipal police station arranged food for the group and looked after their wellbeing along with me. I tweeted their plight to the Telangana government and requested for help. Within 24 hours of my tweet, the chief minister’s office of Telangana contacted me. The government also arranged special passes for their travel," said Saisri.
Saisri hails from Maharashtra. Her parents are of Andhra Pradesh origin. She had come to Manipal for her research studies at Manipal University. She herself could not travel back to Maharashtra due to the lockdown. But upon seeing the plight of the migrant workers, she registered the workers in Seva Sindhu portal and contacted the tahshildar and revenue officers for quick procedures.
Her friend Vishnu also helped her in the process of meeting authorities locally. The local administration agreed to provide them with passes and two KSRTC buses for their travel. The cost of two buses for their travel was estimated to be around Rs 1.90 lac. Therefore, to meet the expenses Saisri started crowd funding and collected around Rs 50,000 for their travel. Not able to meet up the required amount through crowd funding, she approached the Telangana government. The Telangana government agreed to pay Rs 1.48 lac and transferred the amount to KSRTC.
Among the stranded migrants were 10 children, 20 women including an eight months pregnant woman and 20 men. Until the migrants' departure, arrangements were made. Saisri, Abdul Razzak and police personnel of Manipal police station ensured the migrants met their daily requirements.
Udupi MLA Raghupathi Bhat appreciated the selfless work of Saisri and provided food packets through Kadiyali Ganeshotsava Samithi to the workers for their travel.
Saisri expressed her gratitude to the Telangana state government for their timely assistance. Many have appreciated the noble work of Saisri.