An uphill task: UP govt faces the challenge of resettling 1.5 mn migrants

Sarju Lal, 35, returned to his native village in Gorakhpur district from the textile hub of Surat recently after more than a month of lockdown.

For thousands of his ilk stranded in Gujarat, Maharashtra, and other industrialised states, the homecoming was made possible only after the Centre decided to ply non-stop interstate special trains.

Almost broke and brokenhearted at the sudden turn of events, as the host state purportedly failed to provide succour to migrants, Lal is facing the prospects of permanent loss of livelihood, even as he is ready to work locally even for a lower remuneration.

Nearly half a million migrants