29/05/2020
After what was a long wait, 150 women laborers from Odisha who were working at a textile factory in Kochi left for their homes on a chartered flight on Friday.
The women had resigned from their jobs at the textile factory and had been awaiting transportation.
They had been desperate since the special Shramik trains were not immediately available and their money had got all used up.
This is possibly the first time that migrant workers are being evacuated in a chartered flight in the country.
According to AirAsia officials, Bollywood actor Sonu Sood arranged the chartered flight for the women after coming to know about their plight.
"The flight from Kochi Airport took off with the migrants at 8 am and landed at Bhubaneshwar at 10:30 am," said the AirAsia official.
Along with the 150 women from the textile factory, nine other migrant workers from a wood factory too were airlifted.
"The expenses of the flight were borne by the actor," said the official.
Sood has been actively working to help the stranded migrant workers and had even launched a website.
He had also made news for giving up rooms in his hotel for health professionals to stay.
According to a Kochi district administration official, the workers were transported in buses from their camps.
The women laborers who worked in the textile factory were all from Kendrapara in Odisha.
Courtesy: The New Indian Express
