Anxiety mounts among stranded workers

‘We are desperate to go home, but no word from A.P., Odisha governments’

Manas Biswal, 40, hailing from Dhenkanal of Odisha has been earning his livelihood by selling pani poori in MVP Colony of the city for the last 13 years. The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and imposition of lockdown has made his life uncertain.

He is among many migrant workers from Odisha who are stuck in various parts of Andhra Pradesh and want to go home. “With no income, we are almost facing starvation,” said Mr. Manas. He, along with 12 others, who eke out a living by selling pani poori and chaat in the city are in trauma as they are yet to hear a word of promise for their evacuation to their native places.

Manas and others stay in ramshackle tenements near Kailasagiri. They were happy when members of Utkal Sanskrutika Samaj gave them ration and other materials as a humanitarian gesture on Monday.

Despite talks held between the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, no official has contacted the migrant workers who are living in deplorable conditions.

When contacted, a senior official of Odisha government said they would allow the stranded workers to come home only if they arranged their vehicles and get clearances from the officials of the State where they were stranded.

“Do we have money to hire a vehicle? We migrated for work to distant places as we belong to below poverty line families,” said Mr. Manoj Swain, who works in a small-scale industry at Autonagar in the industrial hub of Gajuwaka.

“We have been registered as migrant workers wiling to go to our homes. Our dhaba owner is kind enough to provide us ration. The dhaba is closed now,” said Abani Sahu, a cook stuck in Nellore, adding that 17 of them were stranded in Nellore

Utkal Sanskrutika Samaj president J.K. Nayak, who distributed ration, sanitisers, masks and other essentials to the stranded workers, said the Odisha government should take the initiative to run a Shramik Special train from Visakhapatnam to Bhubaneswar or ply buses to transport these workers.

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