Migrant labourers working in Delhi have returned to their hometown in Bihar's Kishanganj district to spend their time in quarantine. However, they have been living in difficult conditions in the Navodaya Vidyalaya that has been converted into a temporary isolation centre.
Sajad Alam, one of the migrant labourers says that he and several others like him had to walk about 15 kilometres in the dark from the main town to reach the quarantine centre. He had to go from one quarantine centre to the other as some were already full with other returning labourers. Village sarpanch and other administrators were of little help in these difficult times. The one he reached finally had no arrangement for bed, food or toilet. He had to clean the room himself to make his space in the school.
Upon leaving Delhi and entering Bihar they were only screened for body temperature. They haven't been tested for Coronavirus infection yet.
Video Volunteers correspondent Shah Faisal reports that the local nodal officer or circle officer try to delay disbursement of relief material citing workload and shortage of staff.
Sajad says that his condition was much better in Delhi than in his hometown of Kishanganj in Bihar. After spending his savings, he had to leave as his landlord demanded rent despite the government's directive against it.
He says that he has no issues in spending time in the quarantine centre as long as he and others like him are provided for and his parents are not subject to undue harassment.
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