NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, MAY 21
Physically exhausted by their long walk from Vellore and in between hitching a ride, about 45 migrant workers from Assam reached the Assam Bhavan here on Tuesday hoping to obtain necessary travel documents to reach home but found it locked to their dismay.
With nowhere to go, they spent a night under a flyover and finally ended up in a college here where they are temporarily lodged. Most of them were working in restaurants in Vellore.
The group, which also includes a 65-year-old man and a woman, hailing from Sonitpur, Golaghat and Nagaon districts of Assam and they were made to stay at Asan Memorial College of Arts and Science, Pallikaranai in Chennai, authorities said.
They hope to get reunited with their families through government intervention, soon. “Our landlords kept demanding rent from us and we had no money to pay as we had exhausted all our savings. Moreover, with the lockdown displacing us from our jobs at restaurants, we had no other to but to vacate the premises and explore ways to reach home,” said a youth who has been working in Tamil Nadu for about a decade said.
They decided to reach the Assam Bhavan in Pallikaranai here in order to get their travel documents processed.
But the transit house turned into a nightmare as they could not obtain the necessary documents and their attempt to board a special train also turned futile.
The group had reached Assam Bhavan on May 19 but were told it was closed due to COVID-19 lockdown. Initially, they were lodged at the Guru Nanak College in Velachery, after their bid to board a train from Central railway station failed.
All of them were screened and being provided food and now await their turn to return home after official formalities are completed.
