Vizianagaram: Lockdown separates migrant families

Vizianagaram: The lockdown period has created altogether different problems in the backward district of Vizianagaram from where huge number of labourers, workers migrate to various destinations in search of livelihood.

The children of the migrant labourers remained in their native villages with their grandparents after their parents who went to Vijayawada, Chennai, Hyderabad, Guntur and some other places. However, both the parents and children were stranded at different places and both were starving.

Thousands of construction workers, agriculture labourers from this backward district go to various towns to work in fish tanks, orchards, small mills, hotels, lodges, rice mills and others. They leave their children below 15 years with their grandparents here and go to those areas to earn money. The labourers generally visit once or twice in a year but every month they send money here to meet the expenditure for their children. But the lockdown has damaged the dreams of the children here and parents there.

The parents are stranded at Hyderabad, Chennai, Vijayawada and Guntur without any work as all the firms and business establishments were shut down.

Every year the labourers from Kurupam, Komarada, Mentada, Dattirajeru, Bobbili, Ramabhadrapuram and other places move out of their villages and work at various places for more than five years. Generally a male worker earns Rs.400 and female worker will be paid around Rs.300 along with free room and some rice also would be given to these workers.

They send money to their children here to meet the expenditure of education and others. They also repay their loans. But due to the drastic present conditions they became jobless and are not being paid anything there. But here, their children and their parents here are struggling with financial deficit. Even here also there is nothing to do during lockdown.

The children are also anxiously waiting for money from their parents. On the other side, the migrants workers are not in a position to come here and spend time with their families. They are forced sit idle without any pay there.

T. Rani and Ramcharan of Bade Valasa village of Mentada mandal are waiting for their parents T Simmadu and Ramu who went to Ongole to work in a small firm. The children said, "My parents are not sending any money from there as they have no work there. We are staying here with my grand parents. We are struggling to meet our primary needs here. At the same time, we are feeling very sad that our parents are stranded there and cannot come here. It's very painful for us," they said.

Families of migrant labourers from K Kothavalasa and K Krishnapuram villages of Dattirajeru Mandal are also facing the same hard days here. They have nothing to do here and their parents are not in a position to send money from there anymore as they have no work and no payment. Both the children and parents and grand parents are looking forward for lifting of lockdown and resuming of works .