Goa’s Economic activities back on track, Migrants return in search of livelihood

While state government made all the efforts to send the stranded Migrants back to their states during the Covid-19 situation the migrants have started returning back to Goa after spending a couple of days with their families.     

Hundreds of Thousand Migrants stranded in various parts of Goa were desperate to leave the state following the lockdown and Government made all the efforts by arranging the shelter home & food for them. The Shramik Express was arranged to send all the stranded migrants back to their respective states.

But now as the economic activities are coming back on track in Goa, the migrants have made their way back to the state. According to the reports, district administration officials keeping track of the arrivals at Margao railway station have observed a sudden spike in the inflow of Migrants into the state. 

A report published on the TOI has confirmed the arrival of migrants into Goa. “In an irony of sorts, while several thousands of migrants have already exited the state by Shramik Special trains to return to their native places, many among them have started returning,” stated the report.

“What adds a touch of irony to the situation is the fact that these people who were desperate to return to their homes are making it back to Goa after spending a few days with their families there,” said an official. “What this means is that with economic activities back on the path of revival in Goa, they are convinced that their livelihood is more secure in Goa than in their native places.”

After the retreat of Migrants from Goa, the businesses in the state were finding it difficult to survive as most of the menial work in the state was done by migrants. According to the sources, the labour contractors in the state have swung into action and started contacting their labourers asking them to return, on the assurance of offering to fund their travel expenses and arranging for their accommodation in Goa.

“Returning home to their families in times of crisis was just a psychological need that they fulfilled. But the stark reality is that they need work to survive, and Goa has evidently offered them the means of livelihood all these years. Some of them have thus started coming back hoping to pick up from where they had left,” a source associated with migrant welfare agencies, said.

Meanwhile, according to the sources, the Shramik Special did not stop its operation as yet and recently two more trains carrying the migrants have left Goa.

According to TOI, report, after two Shramik special trains one for Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, and the other for Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal had left from Margao railway station on Friday, the shelter home was left with only 18 migrants, 14 of which left by the Goa Express train on Sunday. However, pretty soon, hordes of them began landing at the shelter home, and by Tuesday, over 900 people had been accommodated inside the Fatorda stadium.

This makes it clear that Migrants are still in process of leaving the state, it is quite possible that they might not want to lose the opportunity to take a short vacation back home and return to the work as the situation improves in the state since they are sure of one thing that state needs them.   

According to to the sources, the shelter home at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Fatorda has once again begun teeming with migrants after a brief lull. “As these migrants are from different states, the South Goa district administration is working out travel arrangements for them in coordination with the respective state governments,” Salcete mamlatdar Prataprao Gaonkar, who is overseeing arrangements at the shelter home, said. Many are expected to leave by another Shramik Special train on Wednesday.