Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh

On April 19 last month, when Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a week-long lockdown in the national capital, which is now extended till May 17, Suresh Kumar immediately packed his meagre belongings and left for his village over 1,000 kilometres away in Muzaffarpur in Bihar. 

Kumar, an autorickshaw driver, was accompanied by his wife, his eight-year-old son, and three more passengers. The six of them packed themselves into the three-wheeler for the long journey back home. 

Gaon Connection met Kumar and his passengers as they were preparing to nap under a tree on the NH-24 (national highway) near Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh. They had already covered 426 kilometres and had another long journey ahead. Kumar, whose feet were swollen and hands were red and smarting from the almost non-stop driving for hours, told Gaon Connection that while he looked forward to reaching home, he was worried about his  unpaid debt. 

He had taken out a loan to buy an autorickshaw. He had also sold his wife’s jewellery in last year’s lockdown, (when he was stranded in Delhi for three months), in order to just survive. 

Also Read: “To travel 1,400 kilometres, we have spent fifty one thousand rupees”

Moved by Kumar’s story in Gaon Connection, 19-year-old Anshika Jhamb from Mumbai, a student of  Ashoka University in Sonipat, Haryana, crowd-funded Rs 42,000 to help the father of three.

“After Gaon Connection wrote a report on my miserable condition, I received a call from a madam in Mumbai who asked if she could help,” Kumar, who is now in village Badka in Muzaffarpur, told Gaon Connection. 

“She sent me forty two thousand rupees. Now, I’ll easily be able to pay the three installments of my loan,” he exclaimed happily. “I will always be thankful to the media platform and the madam for helping me out in these dire circumstances,” he added.

When Gaon Connection got in touch with Jhamb, she said: “I saw this video on Twitter and was moved by Kumar’s struggles and his family’s tough journey of a thousand kilometres in his auto rickshaw. I immediately contacted Gaon Connection to enquire about the contact details of this migrant worker and began crowdfunding in order to help him,” Jhamb said.

Jhamb raised Rs 42,000 and sent it over to Kumar, who is still without a proper job in his village, but is driving around his autorickshaw to earn Rs 50-100 a day.  

Also Read: Delhi CM Kejriwal announces week-long curfew, triggering an exodus of panic-stricken migrant workers

Kumar informed Gaon Connection that in 2018, he had taken a loan of Rs 5.5 lakh (about half a million rupees) to buy an auto-rickshaw. “But last year during the lockdown I was trapped in Delhi for three months. I had to sell my land in the village, and my wife’s jewellery, in order to pay my rent in the city and repay the instalments on my auto,” he said.

“Just when I thought I would complete the payment on my rickshaw and repay my other loans, the second lockdown was declared,” he added. 

So, as soon as Kejriwal announced a week-long lockdown on April 19 morning, Kumar felt it was prudent to rush home. Despite the chief minister’s assurances and appeal to migrant workers not to leave the city, Kumar was not swayed. He is glad he left the city immediately as it’s been over three weeks and the national capital is still under lockdown.

Also Read: The trauma of last lockdown still fresh, migrant workers make a beeline for home