Santosh Vishwakarma, 39, rests on a charpai outside his house as he listens closely to election news on his phone. The loud voice of a TV anchor discussing the next phase of elections fills the air in Macchlishahar’s Meerpur village. However, Vishwakarma says, elections are not the reason he always keeps the phone next to him. It is in the expectation of a call from Mumbai, offering him a job.
Nearly every family in Jaunpur has a member who has either migrated to Maharashtra or Gujarat for work. Vishwakarma has been going for 10 years now, mostly doing work related to wood and furniture. His three brothers also work in Maharashtra.
Vishwakarma returned a few days back when he fell ill. “As soon as I get a call from my contractor that he has found some work, I will leave.”
Vishwakarma says he has no choice but to leave behind his wife and two children. “If there were jobs here, I would never go, no one would. But I can’t afford to take them there. Leaving home is our destiny.”
In Mumbai, he generally lives on the site, to save on rent, and sends Rs 7,000-Rs 10,000 a month home. He didn’t return through the first Covid lockdown, but ended up spending most of his savings staying in different places.
Standing outside his small medicine shop, Basant Lal Yadav points to a local bus and says that at least one person inside would be on his way to catch a train to another state. Yadav’s elder brother Binod migrated to Mumbai a few years ago, where he works as a truck driver, and during the Covid lockdown, struggled to get home.
Saying the sudden lockdown left them desperate and without answers, Yadav says: “We used up our savings to book a taxi to Nashik. My brother walked from Mumbai to Nashik over three days, from where we brought him home.”
Yadav is angry with the government for both claiming that the Maharashtra government encouraged them to leave by arranging transport, and the lack of jobs that causes youths like his brother to leave home. “The ruling party says there are many jobs. But we do not know where they are.”
As per the government, it facilitated the return of 40 lakh daily wage labourers from states across the country during the lockdown. More than 53 lakh people associated with labour and street vendor work in rural areas were given Rs 1,000 direct transfer benefit as part of lockdown schemes, officials said.
The despair of the lockdown days has faded for most, replaced by relief over the free rations offered by the government to tide over the Covid pandemic. However, it doesn’t make up for the absence of long-term employment. “We got enough ration throughout the lockdown. It was huge and for that, we acknowledge the government effort. But if there are proper jobs, we can do a lot more,” says Rajni, a resident of Kormal village.
Dheeraj Verma, a shopkeeper in Olandganj, speaks for many when he says that the government did “as much as it could do” in the face of a worldwide pandemic. However, the hit to his business hurt. “It showed how vulnerable small traders are. While there is a demand for jobs, businesses are also struggling.”
With migration from UP highest in its poorly developed eastern regions, the issue of jobs has been coming up in speeches. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has claimed that his government has created more than 4 lakh jobs.
BSP chief Mayawati said recently that during her tenure, people who had migrated came back, as she offered jobs. At his first address for the UP polls, after four phases, Rahul Gandhi said in Amethi Friday that successive governments had forced people to migrate for jobs.
The march out from villages is evident not just in Jaunpur but also Pratapgarh, Gonda and Azamgarh districts. Punjab is a new destination for many.
Locals say there is not even hope to hold them back, given the absence of virtually any industry, factory and multinational offices here. However, the problem didn’t begin with the BJP government, and hence many don’t hold it against the BJP government for failing to find a solution – at least not yet.
A long-time BJP loyalist, Macchlishahar resident Amrish Shukla, agrees that the region has been neglected, but says: “All parties have formed governments in the past… Questions should be posed to all leaders. But we have a lot of faith in Yogi Adityanath. He is a true leader.”
Shukla remains optimistic despite, by his own admission, being dependent on money sent by a relative settled in Mumbai to make ends meet.
His regret is that with “this a predominant Yadav belt, the BJP stands little chance”.
The nine Assembly seats in Jaunpur go to polls in the seventh and final phase. The BJP had won four of the seats last time.
One constituency the BJP has never won is the reserved Macchlishahar constituency. The Samajwadi Party has fielded Dr Ragini from here, while the BJP has given the ticket to Mehi Lal.
The journey for work begins for many from Charbagh Railway Station in state capital Lucknow, which like other stations across UP is overflowing with youngsters carrying large backpacks on any given day.
Among them today is Saurav Shukla, 24, a resident of Fatehpur. He lost both his parents to prolonged illness four years ago. For two years he did daily wage work in Uttarakhand, but is now heading to Mumbai in Pushpak Express. Anywhere but here, he says.
“Elections will come and go, but our struggles will remain. I have to look after my younger sister since I am the only earning member. I tried in so many places but there was no regular employment,” he says, adding that the figures of jobs shared by political leaders are “fake”.
“Going to Mumbai is my last chance of leading a fulfilled life,” says Shukla, settling down for a nap. The train is due only six hours later.
Santosh Vishwakarma is waiting for a call from his contractor to leave for Mumbai. (Express photo/Amil Bhatnagar) 
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