Odisha migrant labourers helped in returning home safely

Volunteers and administration facilitate; brick kiln owners pay reserved train fare, provide masks, sanitisers and food packets

In his decade-long annual migration to outside States for working in brick-kilns, Haladhar Thapa, a worker from Odisha’s Balangir district, has perhaps for the first time returned home with a sense of dignity. Often packed like sardines in unreserved train compartments along with fellow workers, Mr. Thapa’s travel back home was as exploitative as were his working conditions in brick-kilns. This year, however, may be an exception.