Shamser, 38, from Purniya, Bihar, lived in Noida, with his family. He used to earn by transporting goods on his electric cart. When the lockdown was announced, he managed for a few days on his tiny savings. Soon, when it all got used up, he thought it would be better to return home.

He started the 1,350 km-long journey – from Noida to Purnia — on the same cart, which he used for transportation in Noida. He, along with his wife, three children, three brothers, piled up all their belongings on the cart. Three days later, they reached Gorakhpur. It would take them two to three days more to reach home.

The coronavirus caused a state of uncertainty among migrant labourers after the lockdown was announced across the country. Even after all the announcements and assurances of the central and state governments, many, like Shamsher, found it safer to go back to their villages. The cities, which were their homes for decades, no longer seemed friendly. So, they started returning to their villages from where they migrated to cities with some desires and many hopes.

Amrita Sharma from the Ajeevika Bureau, an organization that works for labourers, pointed out that there is a sense of insecurity among migrant labourers because they rarely get the benefit of the government schemes. So, they wish to return home somehow and this phenomenon is termed as ‘reverse migration’.

The migrant labourers are returning in a huge number to their villages leaving behind big cities of employment like Delhi, Mumbai, Surat, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Ludhiana. Many experts believe it to be India’s second-largest exodus after partition. These labourers can also been found to be on highway NH-27 from Delhi to eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Whether by trucks, buses, rickshaws, bicycles or simply on foot, they just want to reach their home.

Sumit, 22, had left from Ghaziabad for Samastipur, Bihar, five days ago. He travelled about 750 kms on foot for five days and reached Kasarwal in Gorakhpur. Carrying a heavy bag upon his back and a red gamcha (scarf) around his head, Sumit said that when the lockdown was announced, he had no clue. He, however, had to set out on foot when his family phoned him up and urged him to come back.

With Rs 300 in his pocket, Sumit stuffed some bhujiya, chiwda and biscuits in his bag. When ate this when he was hungry. He received food packets and water along the highway which people were distributing, which made the journey a little easier.

However, unlike Sumit, there were many who were not so lucky. About 34 people, all over the country, are reported to have died due to hunger, fatigue, heart attack or road accident while travelling on foot. The Supreme Court has also summoned the central government on the situation of exodus of migrant labourers arising due to the lockdown.

Like Shamser, Balram set out for his home in Madhubani upon his cart. He is accompanied by his wife and two children. Balram used to work as a delivery person in the clothes market at Gandhinagar in Delhi. He had covered his cart so that his wife and the children would not feel the sun during the day and the cold at night.

The voice of Balram, who had been travelling for the past five days, clearly betrayed his fatigue. He said: “I was not getting any work because everything was closed. I was sitting idle for two weeks and living upon previously stored ration and water. When it was felt that this supply may soon end, we had to leave. We simply did not have any choice.”

Talking about the mass exodus, Amrita Sharma said: “The government announced schemes for the labourers following the lockdown will benefit only those labourers who have so far availed benefits under various government schemes. Migrant labourers do not have any documents supporting them to be residents of the city where work. So, they are not registered with various government schemes and are deprived of their benefits.”

The Yogi Adityanath government of Uttar Pradesh had talked about 1,000 buses on the Uttar Pradesh border adjoining Delhi on March 28 to help the labourers reaching their destination or Bihar border. But there were many labourers who walked to their village even before the announcement.

Such labourers are still on the way. These labourers who are walking on the highway are resorting to taking lifts with trucks which continue to run despite lockdown to supply essential commodities. The labourers can be easily seen piled atop these trucks on the highway. Although not taking the labourers to their villages, these trucks are making their difficult pedestrian journey a tad simpler. The truck drivers are taking some money from the labourers and dropping them off as far as 100 or 150 kms ahead.

Arvind Pal, who worked in a textile factory at IMT, Manesar, returned to his home (Bihar) on the same day as the lockdown was announced. After five days of walking, he finally got a truck when he arrived in Ayodhya. He is now travelling from the truck to Kushinagar. After Kushinagar, he will have to walk again.

About leaving Manesar, Arvind said: “There was no money to eat or drink. The amount of money that was saved was sent home during Holi, and after Holi, there was not much work that I could stop there. The government is offering relief, but it is inadequate. There is a lot of congestion in the langars. Moreover, there is this spread of disease. So, it was better for us to get home.”

While returning from reporting, we came across Furkan and his family of eight people, including three small children. In addition to the essential items with them, there was also some tentage, which looked like a caravan. It was learnt that they were madaris, who roam village to village and street to street putting up road shows. But there is no one to see their feat in this lockdown, so they are also compelled to go back home.

Furkan asks us for some help to go ahead, but we have nothing to help him. Frustrated, he moves ahead. His caravan moves along with him …