The plight of daily wage earners amid the nationwide lockdown has been heartbreaking. With the loss of jobs, financial distress, and scarcity of resources, migrants have been forced to walk thousands of kilometers to just go back home. And while doing so, they are facing a lot of hardships.
Like, recently, a woman was forced to sell her jewelry to make travel arrangements to go back home. Three migrants including a couple needed bicycles to travel from Bengaluru to their native place in Cuttack. However, as they didn’t have enough money, the wife sold her mangalsutra for Rs 15,000, reports the Republic World.
They used the money to buy two bicycles and then started their long journey. One of the migrants, Chandan Jena was quoted saying, “We have not earned for over two months and we ran out of money. As a last resort, my wife had to sell her Mangalsutra for Rs 15,000 to buy two bicycles and we left Bengaluru for Basudevpur in Bhadrak.”
Odisha: Three migrant workers were seen travelling on bicycles at Tangi, Cuttack y'day. Chandan Mitra, a worker with his wife on the bicycle carrier, said, "When we ran out of money, my wife sold her mangalsutra to buy two bicycles & we left Bengaluru for Basudevpur in Bhadrak". pic.twitter.com/hvZ5JNMskU
— ANI (@ANI) June 1, 2020
Chandan and his friend Tapan Jena purchased two bicycles for Rs 5,000 each. During their long and exhausting journey, they were spotted by some social workers in Cuttack. The social workers not only made arrangements for their food and drinking water but also for their further travel. They arranged for a pickup vehicle for their travel to their native place, Basudevpur in Bhadrak, Odisha.
Thankfully many people have stepped up to help those in need during this distressing time. Like, a 12-year-old used her savings to fly workers home or an elderly woman is packing food for laborers. Well, hats off to great samaritans like them who are acting as heroes during this testing time.