Some residents of Honnihal village in Belagavi district distributed bread, biscuits, rice and water to some labourers who were walking from Goa to Bagalkot. On Saturday, around 50 labourers from Bagalkot were found walking across the Goa- Karnataka border.
Villagers of Honyal collected food packets from residents and distributed them to the travellers.
“Friends in an earlier village had tipped us that these labourers were walking home. At the border of our village, we made them stand at a safe distance and asked them to maintain the distance as they walked. We collected food from families in our villages and gave it to them,” Madhav Patil, a resident, said.
Kannada organisations alleged that the labourers were returning as the government of Goa was asking them to leave the State. “A lot of labourers have been thrown out from Maharashtra and Goa. The poor are forced to walk. This is unfortunate,” said Mehboob Makandar, member of the action committee of Kannada organisations, said.
However, Dhanajay Jadhav, BJP leader, denied the allegations. He said that the labourers were returning as they wanted to go home.
