EARLY TIMES REPORT
POONCH, May 19: Hundreds of migrant labourers who are stranded in district Poonch due to the nationwide lockdown, which has now been prolonged until May 31, are desperate to return home as no work and lack of money have compounded their problems.
The stranded labourers belonging to Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Punjab, Manipur, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and several other states have left with a little hope of getting any kind of job under present circumstances.
With no hope for work and resources in hand, the migrant workers are dealing with several difficulties including arrangement of meals for them and their families while discovering shelter as many of them have been asked to vacate those premises where they were putting up before the announcement of nationwide lockdown.
Though the Government of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir as well as the district administration of Poonch are trying their level best to assist the stranded migrant workers by providing them free ration but still the agony of the labourers stuck here is piling up with each passing day as there are lot of other essential commodities which are needed by them, however, with little or no money in hand they are unable to make any purchases.
Mohd Aslam Ali, a 36-year-old migrant labourer hailing from Assam's Karimganj district, has been stranded in Poonch while narrating his tale of woes to Early Times said, “We are a group of eight people and all migrant workers, stranded right here due to lockdown. We have dried up all our resources and now we have no money.”
Ali and his pals have appealed to the authorities in their home state to act and evacuate them from here as early as possible otherwise they will die of starvation.
Not solely Ali, there are many other migrant workers who are under immense difficulties due to the lockdown and are desperate to return to their homeland safely before a catastrophe strikes them.
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