From Mumbai, workers fly to Jharkhand on plane rented by NLSIU alumni

They were part of a group of 174 labourers — daily wagers, auto drivers and construction workers — from Jharkhand, living in Mumbai, who boarded a plane that was leased by a group of alumni of National Law School of India University (NLSIU).

While nine-year-old Krishna Mandal was surprised that Mumbai’s tallest buildings were suddenly as small as his fingers, his 12-year-old brother Suraj wanted to catch the clouds and eat them. The duo squabbled over the window seat of an Air Asia flight they had boarded from Mumbai to Ranchi Thursday morning, recalled their father Rajendra Tulsi Mandal (47), an auto-rickshaw driver.

By afternoon, the father and sons had reached their home at Atka village in Jharkhand’s Bagodar block, three hours from Ranchi airport. It was the trio’s first flight.

They were part of a group of 174 labourers — daily wagers, auto drivers and construction workers — from Jharkhand, living in Mumbai, who boarded a plane that was leased by a group of alumni of National Law School of India University (NLSIU).

“I have not seen such sadness in my life, nor have I witnessed such happiness as I did today after sitting in the plane. I have found god,” said Rajendra about the NLSIU alumni who collected Rs 12 lakh for the flight that took the labourers home.

Rajendra lived in a rented room in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar east with his two boys, while his wife and their daughter live in the village. “There was no work because of the lockdown, I ran out of money. In the last two months, we survived on very little. My wife would cry over the phone, I would worry about how to take the children back. Many people walked back home, some died, some fainted… I couldn’t put my children through this,” he said.

On the plane, the children called up their mother Dhaneshwari Devi (40) and told her they would be home in a few hours. “I saw the clouds from above, the water bodies and buildings. I felt cold in the plane, but no fear,” said Krishna. Dhaneshwari Devi told The Indian Express over phone, “The kids won’t stop talking about the clouds, the plane journey. I am grateful that we are all together now.”

Four days ago, Rajendra’s phone rang. It was about returning home on a flight. “The group also dropped us to the airport. I didn’t pay a rupee. From Ranchi airport, a bus arranged by the Jharkhand Chief Minister dropped us off till Bagodar. From there I took a rickshaw home. Can you believe I only spent Rs 150 from Mumbai to my village in Jharkhand?” said Rajendra.

Since the plane landed, advocate Shyel Trehan and her four friends, who form the core group that raised money for the plane, were inundated with calls from those who had reached home. “We are bowled over by the calls, and are keen to do this again on a bigger scale,” said Trehan.

It all started when the five booked 45 migrants, who lived near IIT-Bombay, on a scheduled flight which was to leave on Wednesday. “We later heard the flight had been cancelled, so we decided to rent a plane, and raised money in the alumni group. Phone numbers were circulated for NGOs and migrant labourers to reach out. We coordinated with Mumbai police, and the Jharkhand Chief Minister assured us that the migrants would be looked after,” said advocate Suhaan Mukerji.

While 80 NLSIU alumni contributed money, the core members include lawyers Mukerji, Trehan, Arkaja Singh, Shuva Mandal, Priyanka Roy and IIT PhD scholar Priya Sharma.

Apart from Rajendra and his sons, also on board were construction workers Bikram Ram (22) and his father Mahender Sachal S Ram (47). “I moved to Mumbai only six months ago, of which three months were spent under lockdown. The Maharashtra government did help us with rations but we had trouble paying rent as we ran out of money. I got a call from someone from IIT-Bombay and they asked me for our details. Now we are at home in Parasia village in Jharkhand,” said Bikram.

For 40-year-old Jamna Devi, returning home to her village in Giridih district meant ending daily fights with her husband Kauleshwar Mandal (48), an auto driver in Mumbai. “We had run out of money, and were frustrated because there was no way of getting home, so we fought every day. Sometimes we decided to walk, other times we tried booking a train ticket, then we decided to stay back and either die of the illness or starvation. My husband took out the auto once and got fined. There is no money. Then my sister-in-law told me about some people booking buses or planes for migrants of Jharkhand, so we also called. Now, we are home,” said Jamna.