At least 180 Jharkhand migrants, stranded in different parts of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, were flown down to Ranchi in a chartered Indigo flight on Saturday at the behest of Chief
Minister Hemant Soren – a development that comes close on the heels of the return of 60 such migrants from Leh on Friday, a press communique from the Chief Minister's office said.
The stranded migrants boarded the flight at Port Blair at around 3.30pm and landed at the Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi at 6.10 pm. State Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister Mithilesh Thakur welcomed the migrants at the airport with red roses. The Government also ensured food packets and water for all the returnees.
"Several stranded migrants have returned to Jharkhand in the past 48 hours. I welcome them home," Soren said. "The Government is committed in reaching out to all the stranded migrants of our state and ensure their safe return," he added.
The Government spent around Rs 21 lakh in the return of these migrants, an official from Soren's office said. The migrants, mostly from Santhal Pargana region of the state, were taken to their respective districts from the Ranchi airport by buses, he added.
Dhanik Oraon, one of the migrants who was stranded in Andaman and Nicobar for over two months said, "All of us are grateful to the chief
minister for coming to our rescue in this time of crisis," he said.
Jharkhand became the first state to airlift its migrants from Leh on Friday. Earlier, on Thursday, the alumni of National Law School in Bangalore leased an Air Asia flight for return of 180 odd migrants from Mumbai to Ranchi. At least 400 migrants have returned to Jharkhand by air in the past 48 hours.
At a time when migrant workers are reportedly covering miles on foot to reach home as they battle abandonment by their employers, this development is among the rare positive happenings for migrants in India. Over a dozen Jharkhand migrants have died in road accidents while returning home during the lockdown, while many have fallen prey to Covid-19infection.
