‘Will have to sacrifice 15 days of labour but don’t need to waste my vote’

Raj Kumar Chaudhary, a resident of Malda district in West Bengal, is in a tearing hurry. He doesn’t need to miss the prepare again to his residence state as he has to solid his vote on April 29, which is the final section of elections in Bengal.
“I do not want to waste my vote though it cost me dear. I have to sacrifice 15 days of labour as I will be back by May 5 after the results,” he mentioned.
Chaudhary will not be the one labourer headed to Bengal. Many others are going with him as three phases of elections are but to be performed in Bengal on April 22, 26 and 29.
Manoj Kumar of Uttar Pradesh (UP) had additionally boarded a particular personal bus close to Jalandhar Bus stand Tuesday as a result of panchayat elections are being performed there in varied phases.
“I have been working in Jalandhar’s grain market for the past two decades and also work in potato fields. I came here in February for potato harvesting and wheat procurement in April and May, but this time, due to elections, I have to leave wheat procurement work midway,” mentioned Chaudhary.
Dinkar Kumar of Murshidabad additionally boarded a prepare to vote on April 26.
Nand Kishore, a resident of Bahraich in (UP), mentioned elections in his village will probably be held on April 26 and he got here to know that particular buses are being run by some personal firms to the state. “So I decided to go by bus instead of train through the fare of the bus is four times more,” he mentioned.
Kishore spends round eight months of the 12 months in Punjab. For round 4 months he works within the grain mandis throughout procurement of wheat and paddy. The remainder of the time he pulls a rickshaw or does no matter different labour work he can get.
Several labourers are returning their native states to vote, although they might have made good cash on the peak of wheat procurement season.
In Jalandhar, many personal bus operators have change into lively and are working particular buses to UP forward of the subsequent section of panchayat elections there. These bus companies are charging Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 fare per individual.

These buses will probably be run for the subsequent two days, mentioned a driver of 1 such bus.
“Hum chaar paise bana lete hain kanak ki katai ke samay par chunav bhi jaruri hai isliye vapis ja rahe hain (We make good money during wheat procurement season but elections are also necessary that is why we are returning home),” he mentioned, including that he nonetheless felt dangerous about lacking out on work.

“We earn minimum Rs 500 a day during harvesting season and this amount helps us a lot back home,” mentioned Amit Kumar of UP working in Jalandhar grain market.
Rakesh Tuli, president of the Anaj Mandi Mazdoor Union, Punjab, mentioned a number of migrants who used to return for wheat season most popular to remain again as a result of elections in UP and West Bengal and people who had come are additionally going again as per the election date of their respective areas. “We had managed with local labour last year and this time also we have a good number of local labourers available with us,” he mentioned, including that even some are fearing lockdown like final 12 months and needed to return as quickly as doable to their native locations.