Rahul Gandhi taking ‘Dunki route’ to voo voters ahead of Haryana elections

Chandigarh: The illegal immigration technique named ‘Dunki’ which individuals adopt to are on the look for to to search out greener pastures within the United States or Europe, has turned out to be a first-rate election issue in Haryana where the legislative Assembly will go to poll on October 5. Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition (LoP) within the Lok Sabha, has been bringing up the ‘Dunki’ issue in poll meetings and claiming that alleged unemployment within the state is the reason at the back of formative years undertaking the illegal journey to foreign countries.

Experts blame the agrarian crisis for unemployment within the state at the same time as farmlands change into increasingly small as families expand and skyrocketing farm inputs make it not it's possible you would to earn a tight living. Hence, in spite of disturbing stories around the ‘Dunki’ route, the chance of an improved life within the western world is still an overwhelming lure for the formative years, in particular from Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat. Travel and immigration agents are constantly adapting more moderen methods to sneak young aspirants into the United States and European nations through other countries by crossing rivers and jungles.

Reports say immigrants commute over 1,500 miles through Mexico under a blazing sun to are on the look for to to search out US asylum. By the end of 2023, the choice of migrants crossing into the United States reached a record high.

So LoP Rahul Gandhi is building up momentum to are on the look for to to search out votes for his Congress celebration by narrating a “real story” about the plight of immigrants who've adopted the ‘Dunki route’. Gandhi has been accusing the ruling BJP of committing “grave injustice” to the formative years through its alleged inability to supply jobs.

Missing no opportunity to supply a proof for to the electorate in every election rally why the formative years of Haryana turn to ‘Dunki’, Rahul Gandhi is professing that “lakhs of families are paying the pricetag of the disease of unemployment in Haryana.”

“At some point of my check with to The u . s . a ., I met those kids from Haryana who're struggling in a foreign usa, away from their families,” the LoP explains to crowds.

Well beforehand of throwing his hat into the poll arena, Rahul Gandhi landed in Ghogripur village in Karnal district and visited the family of a US-based man he met in The u . s . a . recently. At some point of the meeting, the Congress MP promised Amit Kumar, that he would go to his house and meet his family.

Later, Kumar’s mother Birmati told the media, “Rahul Gandhi said that he met Amit within the United States and promised that he would meet his members of the family in India. He listened to the overall story (about his illegal immigration) and said he would provide some lend a hand. He said Amit’s condition was once not good as he met with an accident there.”

Critics say Gandhi’s “political script” is predicated on the Hindi film ‘Dunki’, Rajkumar Hirani’s first collaboration with big name Shah Rukh Khan, that talks about illegal immigrants from Punjab who make dangerous journeys in a desperate are on the look for to to search out for greener pastures.

“I went to Texas just a few days ago. I met the formative years of Haryana there. You watch the video. There are 15,000 to twenty,000 people from Haryana in The u . s . a .. Then I met some people there. I asked them how they reached The u . s . a . and I came to know about the ‘Donkey Route’”, he said at an election meeting in Asandh in Karnal recently.

Countering LoP Gandhi, the BJP wrote on X on Tuesday, “At a updated public rally in Haryana, Rahul Gandhi mentioned that right through his check with to the United States, he saw 15-20 formative years from Haryana living in a small room.

“These unverified claims attract unnecessary attention and will potentially result in unwarranted actions, equivalent to detentions. Such remarks are intended to guide to harm to the people of Haryana.”

At a updated public rally in Haryana, Rahul Gandhi mentioned that right through his check with to the United States, he saw 15-20 formative years from Haryana living in a small room.

These unverified claims attract unnecessary attention and will potentially result in unwarranted actions, equivalent to detentions. Such… p.c.twitter.com/dQ6YeWK5g8

— BJYM (@BJYM) October 1, 2024

Immigration consultants based in Chandigarh told IANS the legal path to reach the United States, Canada and other western countries is a to discover about permit that at least starts their professional lives.

Most international students are eligible to work there, specifically in Canada and Britain, while studying, they said. “There are different requirements for engaged on campus and off-campus. Most often, international students can work off-campus up to twenty hours per week in Canada. A majority of Indian students work in food services, retail, and hospitality,” they said.

Per the Canadian government, foreign students make a contribution more than $15.three billion once a year to the economy. There should not any restrictions on the sort of employment right during the to discover about or work permit. Also, once a year thousands of graduates from India decide on Canadian residency — a route for an informed, young group of workers to are living and work there, in spite of diplomatic members of the family between India and Canada having affected visa processing.

Seeing the trend in Punjab, hundreds of immigration and admission consultancy firms have opened their offices across Punjab and Haryana and its capital city Chandigarh. Though these firms are regulated by the federal government, still unscrupulous and fly-by-night operators are also there.

Also there is likely to be the mushrooming of English language coaching institutes even in villages that prepare students for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). After completing Grade 12, students are preparing themselves in coaching institutes to score a band higher than six in a language ability test for admission to undergraduate courses overseas.

Why is the trend for settling overseas catching up fast?

Every house in a village or a city of Punjab and Haryana has as a minimum one relative or a family member who has immigrated to Europe or a Western usa. This inspires the younger generation to earn in dollars or pounds. So one’s journey to migrate overseas starts when she or he is still at school. The migration to foreign countries has change right into a status symbol in loads of villages.