There is no end to the travel woes of Keralites working in north Indian states. Picture for representational purpose
“Sister, please tell sir and somehow confirm the ticket. It’s an emergency: my mother is sick. Only if I reach there can she be taken to a hospital. Please help.” This is only one of the many phone calls that come daily seeking help to get train tickets. This is the voice of misery of lakhs of Keralites who are working in places like Delhi and other north Indian states. Many must have taken tickets months ago, some must have taken Tatkal tickets.
The travel home on train during mid-summer holidays is not just a journey. For many, in reality, it is a miserable journey. Even if they arrange tickets somehow and get on the train, lack of food and clean water, loss of luggage and money, paying bribe for a bed roll... these have become normal experiences.
The Gujjars of Rajasthan were protesting by blocking train lines till Thursday night. Many trains through Rajasthan have been cancelled. Because of that, trips of thousands of Keralites got cancelled, and rush increased in remaining trains. Not only now, in every train to Kerala during holidays there will be more people without confirmed tickets than with confirmed tickets.
Keralites cross about 3,000 kilometres and go to work in north Indian states like Delhi with dreams of starting a life and improving the state of their family. Most of them get paltry sums, and they live with limited facilities. Many of them do not have their own address; they have only ‘care of’ address. They have to manage their homes and teach their children with meagre salaries. If anyone at home falls sick, it will affect their budget, and they will have to borrow money. Most of the youth who travel home are in debt for many reasons. A big percentage of them are female nurses. They need parts of their salary to repay education loan, for marriage expenses, to pay the agent who has promised to get a job abroad, to send at least a small amount home and for personal expenses. In this state, many of them ignore their health and food. Some of them say they have faced a particular question back home from the family members of the prospective groom during marriage discussions: “Have you taken an education loan, have you paid it back fully?”
These people who live in the midst of many problems are the ones who try to go home in one or two years and fall prey to the torture of railways. If an airline cancels a trip or if an aircraft gets delayed, there will be a ruckus, prominent people will intervene, and there will be news breaks, investigations and actions. If trains get cancelled for days and travel facilities are denied to lakhs of people, no one cares, and there will be no breaking news on TV channels.
Many people, including MPs, have requested railway ministers to take steps to solve the travel woes of Keralites. At times, some quick-fix measures will be taken, and that too will be temporary. The reality is that no one is interested in solving the travel woes of Keralites on trains. There is no answer to why this happens. If this has to end, a union of political parties, social activists and ordinary people has to come up. It is our right to travel home and back to the place of work, not in luxury, but with at least minimum facilities. When that is denied, we are denied the right to live. It is also questioning the self respect of a section of people who earn their livelihood decently.
(The writer is the general secretary of the National Federation of Indian Women)
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