During the nationwide lockdown, more than 10 lakh daily wage earners from Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Bihar, who were working in Punjab, returned home. This reverse migration led to a setback in the relationship between the Purbiyas (a term used for those living in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh) and Punjab.

The exodus of migrant labourers put the local farmers and industrialists in Punjab in a fix. By mid-June, paddy cultivation is to begin. The industrial activities are picking up pace. Many local industries rely upon these migrant labourers.

Now, yet again, the migrant workers called Purabiya (Easterners) are heading back to Punjab — which means the East is reuniting with Punjab. It is noteworthy that this time the migrants are not simply arriving, but are, in fact, being ‘escorted’ with great respect.

The farmers and industrialists in Punjab are paying to arrange for the transport facilities to bring the workers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand back. Their arrival is catching pace with time. Currently, most of the workers arriving in Punjab are agricultural labourers. The industrialists have started booking tickets to bring the migrant labourers back. Advances are being extended too. In two weeks, 17 transport companies dispatched 300 buses from Malwa to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The buses returned with more than 10,000 workers. According to the transporter, Gurdeep Singh, his buses have already done several rounds and he has full bookings till the end of June.

Malwa undertakes large-scale paddy cultivation and local farmers are dependent on migrant labourers for it. This time they were worried for the sowing of the crop in the absence of migrant workforce.

Gurmel Singh and Baljinder Singh, the farmer brothers from Sherpur Badi in Barnala, have more than 100 acres of land. For decades, they have been cultivating paddy. Since 1970, their fields have been completely handed over to migrant labourers during the month of June. Gurmel and Baljinder were worried about migrant labourers not turning up this year. So, they approached farmers from Tapa, Dhanula, Mahalkalan, Shaihna, Bhadore, Farhi, Khurdi, Kare and Thikariwala villages and spoke to the administration. After an online application, they themselves boarded the buses, went to other states and fetched the farmers. The process is continuing.

Gurmel Singh pointed out that the cost of a bus hire comes to around Rs 50- 60,000, and the farmers are spending this money from their pockets. They are accompanying the buses so that they are able to persuade the unwilling labourers to come. They are being brought back on higher remuneration and better maintenance and assurance of facilities. According to Akashdeep Singh, a prosperous farmer from Tapa village, Punjabi farmers cannot survive without migrant labourers.

“On the demand of farmers, they were allowed to go out of the state,” said Barnala deputy commissioner Tej Pratap Singh Phulka. “Buses were sent under the supervision of the SDM office. When the labourers arrive, the health department first examines them thoroughly and then they are allowed to work in the fields. They are under surveillance, but are not quarantined,” he added.

The Bharatiya Kisan Union-Lakkhowal is also arranging for buses to bring back migrant labourers. According to Jagjit Singh Sera, the Union president: “Paddy plantation was looming over and farmers were reeling under the shortage of labourers. So far, we have sent 80 buses, which have been doing the rounds and bringing the labourers back. If the migrant labourers don’t return, the farmers of Punjab would be devastated. In my own village, paddy is to be sown across 4,500 acres of land and only 150 labourers are available, which are grossly inadequate. The farmers in the region eagerly await the arrival of the labourers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Similarly, buses are going to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand from all the districts of Punjab and are coming back with labourers. Agricultural labourer Dinesh Kumar Yadav, who had returned from Motihari district of Bihar to Mand village in Jalandhar district, said that he would get Rs 4,600 per acre for sowing paddy besides other facilities. Dinesh’s companion, Niranjan, said: “If you don’t come to Punjab to earn, how will you eat?”

It is noteworthy that although there was an exodus of migrant labourers after all the work had stalled in Punjab, but the labourers, however, were disappointed with the relief measures provided by the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had claimed that migrant labourers would not face any problems related to job and ration if they returned home. When labourers, however, said the ground reality is, in fact, quite the opposite.

Rameshwar Prasad, who lives in a village near Motihari, has returned to Jalandhar. He said: “I wasn’t getting to eat here so I went back to the village. But the situation was worse over there. I called up Sardarji (a farmer) to somehow arrange for my return. There is no work in the village and no food. I have four children, wife and parents. Apart from returning to Punjab, there was no other way.”

Baijnath, who is from Gonda district in Uttar Pradesh, was having his medical examination done at the Jalandhar Civil Hospital. He said: “I thought that if I go back home, the government would take care of us. But no one was bothered about us. In Punjab, I earn decently well during the paddy season and from the wheat crop. The wages that I earn from wheat and paddy cultivation last me for a year.”

The gradual influx of migrant labourers is giving relief and hope to the farmers of Punjab to some extent. The convener of Punjab Lok Morcha, Amolak Singh, said that the way the Centre had run special trains for the return of labourers, it should now run for the labourers who want to come to Punjab for work.

DS Chawla, the president of the United Bicycle and Parts Manufacturers Association, Ludhiana, said that industrialists are calling the labourers back at their own expense. The big problem is the shortage of trains and there is a long ongoing wait for the seats. Jalandhar Auto Parts Manufacturers Association has sent an email to the Prime Minister, the Union Home Minister and the Railway Minister to increase the number and route of trains so that migrant labourers can return. The 80 auto parts manufacturing industrial units in Jalandhar have a turnover of about Rs 750 crore. Before the lockdown, 50,000 migrant labourers had worked in these units. Now, only 10,000 are working. These units manufacture parts of JCB, four-wheeled vehicles and tractors.

The entire production activity is handled by migrant labourers. According to Tushar Jain of Basant International and Association: “Although the production has started, due to the shortage of labourers, it is not taking off full swing. The industries have been seriously affected. We have made arrangements for tickets to recall the labourers.”

The chairman of Jalandhar Auto Parts Manufacturers Association and CII member Balram Kapoor said that migrant labourers are not able to come back due to the shortage of trains. The government should immediately pay attention to this. According to the state’s industry minister Shyamsundar Arora: “Necessary steps are being taken to meet the shortage of labourers. Out of the total migrant labourers registering to return from Punjab, 60% of the labourers have been sent to their states while the other 40% were left behind here. These workers have been taken up to resume the work. Efforts are also underway to bring back the remaining labourers. The production will go up upon their return.”