Jaipur: For the tehsildar and principal in a remote village of Rajasthan’s Sikar, making arrangements for the stay of over 54 migrant workers – including women and children – amidst the pandemic, was one of their first assignments. They had just been appointed a month before the lockdown was imposed.Both of them dove into their duties enthusiastically, quickly turned a portion of a government senior secondary school in Palsana village into a housing facility for the workers. Mattresses were laid down in the hall, attached to the school’s playground. A make-shift kitchen was created in the corridor. When it became clear that the meagre school fund would be insufficient to make food arrangements, they requested the local MLA to intervene.Congress MLA from Dantaramgarh constituency Virendra Singh encouraged the village people to take up turn-wise responsibility of arranging at least one meal a day for the workers. The idea worked well and the Bhamashahs came out in large numbers. (In Rajasthan, people who donate money to charity are called ‘Bhamashah’ in local parlance)The migrant workers are from Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and some other districts of Rajasthan. They include six women and two children who are about one year old. Due to restriction on the inter-state movement after the imposition of the lockdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, they were unable to return home. The village authorities arranged their stay at the school.“Every day, a different Bhamashah family handles the kitchen that we have set up in the school. The workers get one special meal, that is, dal-baati-choorma or boondi-daana, and one normal dal-roti meal,” Vipul Chaudhary, Naib Tehsildar at the Palsana village who took charge in March, told The Wire.Fruits being distributed to the migrant workers.While the workers were being looked after at the school-turned-shelter, they found it difficult to adjust to the lack of physical activity. Many of them reportedly developed digestion problems.Naresh Kumar, a migrant worker from Haryana, complained of severe stomach ache about two days after being stationed at the school. After a check-up, the doctor advised him to do some physical activity in a manner his body is accustomed to. The same advice was given to other workers too, according to Rajendra Kumar Meena, principal at the Palsana government school.The workers volunteered to paint the school building. The workers said this was their way to show gratitude for the kind treatment handed out by the residents of the village.“When we were stopped from going back to our homes, we were upset and annoyed. But we had no idea that the Palsana residents would treat us as guests, not as a burden. We are overwhelmed for all that they have done for us and painting a building in return is not equivalent to even 1% of their hospitality,” said Tara Chand, a worker from Jaipur.In the current scenario, when everyone is paranoid about the spread of the COVID-19 infection, the workers wanted their stay in the school not to be a source of suspicion for the children of the village. They instead wanted it to be cleaner than before.“I hope that when the students return to their school after the lockdown, they will feel good about the newly painted building and not think that we left a virus in their classes,” said Shankar Singh (65), a migrant worker from Hisar district in Haryana who has been working as a painter for the past 30 years in Rajasthan.The village administration welcomed their decision and sought help from the village community to make arrangements for the painting work.“There was no separate fund available with the village administration to paint the building. So we took the help of social media to issue a message. We said, ‘Overwhelmed by our services, the workers want to paint the school. Anyone willing to contribute monetary help so that arrangements for paint could be made, can contact us.’ This helped us arrange over Rs 1 lakh,” Roop Singh Shekhawat, Sarpanch of the Palsana village told The Wire.Before and after the completion of painting in the school. Photo: By arrangementThe principal tells that the school building was last painted in 2011. “Most of the maintenance work in government schools is done through community participation because there are not enough funds available. When I was appointed as the principal in March, my first desire was to get the school painted. Now it has come true,” said Meena.With the extension of the lockdown, the workers continue to stay at the school and are finishing the painting work. “They tell us that even if the lockdown is lifted, they will not go to their homes without completing the work,” he added.
