Dimapur’s Train to Bihar: An interplay of suffering and kindness

Purnungba Longkumer
Dimapur, June 4 (EMN): On May 23, approximately 1600 migrant workers from Bihar left Dimapur by a special ‘Shramik’ train at about 9 pm. The train tickets were sponsored by the government of Nagaland.

Safe Journey!
The Shramik Train bound for Motihari,Bihar leaving Dimapur Rail station with #special_people(Number of passengers not mentioned as statistics would be too simple a numerical adjective to describe these patient and good citizens)#with_regards @bihar_police pic.twitter.com/SLLFydtNqW

— dimapur police (@dimapurpolice) May 23, 2020

In the Video: Policewomen from Nagaland Police wave to passengers, migrant workers, leaving for Motihari in Bihar from the Dimapur railway station.

Zakabo Rotokha, managing director of Nagaland Handloom & Handicrafts Development Corporation Limited Dimapur (NHHDC), in charge of stranded passengers in Nagaland, informed that 13 buses and one taxi from Kohima, with 349 passengers reached the DDSC stadium in Dimapur about 3 pm while 5 buses from Mokokchung with 212 passengers were transported to the DDSC on May 23.

On the same day, thermal screening was conducted by medical personnel. The district administration verified the passengers’ documents. After the verification was done, tickets were issued to the 1600 migrant workers for the Shramik special train to Bihar.

The district administration led by Dimapur’s Deputy Commissioner Anoop Khinchi, Additional Deputy Commissioner Lovitoly Sema, police commissioner Rothihu Tetseo and a host of other officials were present at the railway station to see them off as they departed for their destination.

Before the train departed, the migrant workers were provided with food packets and a bottle of water at the railway station.

Manoj Kumar Paswan, an auto rickshaw driver, who has been in Nagaland for more than 15 years  expressed gratitude and appreciated the people of Nagaland for taking care of them all these years. He thanked the government of Nagaland for bearing all the expenses in transporting them to Bihar.

Paswan said he would definitely come back to Nagaland once the lockdown is completely lifted, and the situation becomes normal, to carry on his business activities, a DIPR report stated.

Big job

When queried about the challenges and difficulties being face by the team, the official Rotokha informed that calling up almost 1600 persons registered was a big challenge. It took seven assistants who worked for seven hours per day for two whole days to complete the process of calling the migrant workers.

The official added that coordination with the Kohima and Mokokchung teams was smooth though.

Rotokha informed that all the migrant workers’ medical certificates were obtained from the districts in the state.

When queried about how long it took to complete the entire procedure, he said registration took more than three weeks. After, the passengers were called, it took about a month for the process to complete, and it was definitely a ‘success story.’

When asked about the team’s best experience, he said seeing the relief in the eyes of the migrants from being able to go back to their homes was the best thing that the organisers could experience from their work.

Rotokha added that the officials received positive feedback from the migrant workers when calls were being made to the 1600 passengers. Some of the migrants even called back to thank the district officials for facilitating the journey, ‘which was gratifying to hear,’ he said.

After the work organising the Shramik special train for Bihar, the district officials are now working on registering people who are waiting for government transportation facilities, the official said.

The team

One of the assistant members handling registration in Nagaland, Lanuzulu Pongener, informed that work started on May 6, around 9 pm. He received a call for Covid-19 duty but he was clueless what kind of job he was to do then.

On May 7, they started registering labourers from Bihar. As the days passed, the workload kept increasing and it was difficult for the employees but with the help of three extra workers provided by the government, the team could manage to register the people.

On May 19, the official received information that a train would be available from Dimapur to Bihar. For that, the registering team had to call all the 1800 registered citizens of Bihar for confirmation if they were willing to go.

Out of 1800, the team was able to confirm about 800 people from Dimapur, while the rest was from Kohima and Mokochung. Pongener added that arrangements were made in Dimapur even for the Bihar citizens from Kohima and Mokokchung.

The official informed that on May 22, the team informed all the confirmed citizens of Bihar to reach the DDSC on May 23 to come and collect their train tickets. Only 1600 train tickets were arranged for the journey, but on that particular day more people turned up, he said.

Human stories

Looking at the situation and condition of the individuals’ problems, the official in charge of the team decided to give tickets even to those who had not registered. Pongener recalled an incident: One of the unregistered individuals who was about 65 to 70 years old started to cry when a ticket was handed over to him.

The official observed that such events gave the team positive feelings, and said the employees were doing something good for the people ‘instead of sitting at home doing nothing during this pandemic.’ Even though it was a small gesture, he said, the team members are proud about what they are doing.

Pongener informed that many of the migrants called back after reaching Bihar. One person by the name Ranjit said that he had reached Bihar and that he was staying at quarantine centre. According to the official, Ranjit said he felt sad for leaving Nagaland and Naga people but offered the officials that when he returns, he would cut their hair for free at his hair salon in Dimapur.

Big hearts

Pongener recalled another incident: One of the stranded citizens from Bihar aged about 62 years old had not registered. However, he was provided with a train ticket by the officials. Out of happiness, the official said, the man took out INR 50 which was his only money and gave it the one of registering officials there in tears.

Another assistant in the registration team, Chepe Mekrisuh said the authorities had issued notifications in the Press besides informing the Bihar community organisations to inform their people to register.

Mekrisuh said that at first they were supposed to send Bulk SMS but it was not possible. Therefore,  they started calling the migrants individually for confirmation. The team members started calling from morning till evening. It took two days to call all the 1800 people, he said.

Mekrisuh informed that the registration took almost three weeks. The work has been going on for over a month since they started working from May 6 with a team of six members initially. He added that he stays alone, and he has to go home and cook too. Nonetheless, he expressed happiness at having to fulfil his duties successfully.

Much more to do

Mekrisuh said the work is less now since the registration. As of now, he said, registration for Bihar is approximately 200 while registrations for other states are at approximately 760. He said that the next train will be arranged not only for Bihar but for other states simultaneously. A minimum of approximately 1000 plus people have to register for the authorities to arrange transportation, he said.

What really matters

Mekrisuh feels sorry for the situation and the people facing it. Nonetheless, he is satisfied that the people can reach their home towns.

Mekrisuh said one person called him and informed him that they had reached home safely without any difficulties. The person thanked the Nagaland government for helping them.

It feels great to hear good feedback for the team’s hard work, he said.

One of the passengers, Laxman Thakur, informed that he used to work in Dimapur. He had been living in Dimapur from childhood. He said he is finding it difficult to adjust with his new life in Bihar, and that he cannot work in the field too.

At the moment, Thakur said, he is staying at home without a job and only waiting for the lockdown to be lifted so that he can return to Dimapur and earn his livelihood.

Another person, Ajay Prasad, who worked as a labourer in Dimapur, informed that at the moment there is no restriction in Bihar and working there for the time being. He explained that working in Nagaland is better for him.