Farmers Movement Archive

Stranded farm labourers queue up to return home in Jalandhar

Hundreds of sugarcane labourers who arrived here in the month of December are eagerly waiting to go back home. While they usually leave by March end and come back in the paddy season, this year they have been stranded due to the lockdown.Tuntun Kumar from Madhepura district in Bihar came here in December and is now trying to go back home as soon as possible. He is eagerly waiting to complete the registration process and go back. “I want to go back. My family is worrying for me and has been calling me daily. A day here seems like a month,” he said.Another agriculture labourer from Bihar said they were waiting for the confirmation and continuously looking at their phones as to when would they receive an SMS. “For the past five months, agricultural labourers from Bihar have been stuck here, longing to go back to their home. Little did we know that the wait would stretch beyond our imagination, testing us every day and night,” he said. There are scores of other migrants like them who are physically present here but their minds are back at their native places.Satnam Sahni, a farmer from Phagwara, said several labourers had applied for registration as they want to go back. “After remaining here for months, they have become restless and are running out of patience. But my only concern is that this home-going in such large numbers do not cause any problem,” he said. He also expressed concern over the fact that the farmer would need labour during the paddy season, but now, they would face problem, as a majority of labourers have applied for the registration.“In villages, several labourers are ready to leave,” he said, adding that there were some who have decided to stay back, so that they can earn in the paddy season and then leave.

The Tribune

2020-05-08

Jalandhar