The lockdown and the extended lockdown have throroghly devastated the migrant labourers trapped in other states – they haven’t got any help from the government; they don’t have money or food. These migrant labourers stranded elsewhere are now desparate to leave for home, at any cost.
In the second phase of the lockdown, a voluntary group called Stranded Workers Action Network (SWAN) has come up with a report that presents a frightening picture of these workers. The organization got in touch with 11,159 labourers trapped in different parts of the country. According to the report, 96 per cent of the migrant labourers could not get ration from the government, while 70 per cent are labourers who were dependent only on canned food, i.e., they could not even get cooked food.
The second phase of lockdown has been bad for lakhs of labourers trapped in states like New Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar. Gaon Connection tried speaking to some of these migrant labourers.
“We don’t have cash to buy ration”
“There is no ration in the house and then this sickness. We have spent Rs 600 towards medical expenses so far. Now, should we arrange for food for children or to buy medicines?” asked Nutan Devi, a migrant labourer, who is trapped in Faridabad, Haryana.
Nutan Devi who works at a clothes factory in Faridabad, has been stuck due to the lockdown along with her husband Baijudas and three children. Nutan’s lungs have to be operated upon, but she wants to leave for her village in Bihar’s Muzzaffarpur district.
“The money that we had was spent on medicine and ration. Now we don’t have cash to buy more ration. The landlord keeps asking for rent, but from where to get the money?” she said.
Like Nutan, Anita Devi too works in a cloth factory and is also trapped in Gurugram with her husband Phoolan Sahni and five children. Her husband is a construction worker, but he has been jobless since Holi. Anita had Rs 3,000, but she had already used up the amount in the lockdown.
Anita said: “Now there is no money left, somehow we managed to get some chivra from the shop which my chidren ate for two days. We had borrowed a little money and bought some rice, but only four kilos are left of that. How many more days it will last, it is beyond us.”
Every single day of the second lockdown is a nightmare for these labourers. Despite all of this, these migrant labourers, who are reeling under shortage of ration and money, have not been able to receive any government help so far.
The central government has claimed to provide all possible help to the labourers during the lockdown. As per the Labour Ministry data, around 22,567 government relief camps have been set up in the country since the lockdown, where about 10.03 lakh migrant labourers are being assisted.
In addition, about 1.5 lakh labourers are giving their employers food and lodging space. While more than 84 lakh labourers are getting food and accomodation by NGOs. The government has also set up 20 control rooms across the country to hear and resolve the grievances and needs of the labourers, but the help for the labourers is proving inadequate.
The SWAN has claimed in its report that only one per cent of migrant labourers have received government ration after a two-week lockdown, while only four per cent of the labourers in the third week could find government ration.
Arif, who is trapped with six of his fellow labourers in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, said: “We have not received even one rupee help from the government so far. We have not even got any ration. When we urged the people nearby, they began feeding us, but for how long? The second lockdown has increased our troubles. We have only Rs 400 left with us. If someone falls ill, we don’t even have the money to buy medicines.”
Even in Bengaluru, Karnataka, 2,500 kms away from Shimla, the stranded labourers have not been able to get any government help. SK Karim, a migrant labourer who was trapped with his family in Kenchnahalli, Bengaluru, said: “Once the government ration was about to be distributed in our neighbourhood but was discontinued due to the mob. We could not get anything.”
“The shop from which we borrow also asks for money now, now for how many days will someone lend us food during the lockdown, no money in hand, people in the neighbourhood are not helping, two more days’ ration is left, if there is no help soon, we will all die hungry,” said Karim.
Not only that, the SWAN report had revealed that despite the directive of the central government, 89 per cent of the workers were not paid by their employers during the lockdown.
Twenty 20 migrant labourers working in a cloth factory are badly trapped in Dharavi, Mumbai. One of these labourers, Meraj Ansari, said: “We did not get any money during the lockdown, nor did we get any government help. We did not even have a place or means to cook. We used to eat outside. We are totally dependent on others. If people give us food we eat. When they don’t, we have no choice but to sleep hungry.”
Meraj, who is from Giridih district of Jharkhand, informed: “For a few days in a nearby street, some people had shared food, but now it is only done occasionally. We are in grave distress, we don’t have money, nor do we have food, we need help.”
Although the state governments have made efforts at various levels to help the labourers trapped in other states, these efforts are also proving to be inadequate. One of these efforts is a support app launched for the labourers trapped outside by the government of Jharkhand in which the government is providing financial assistance of Rs 2,000/-upon registration.
Riazul Ansari, another labourer trapped in Mumbai’s Antop Hill, said: “I had downloaded the app, but could not register myself. They require Jharkhand’s account number. Even the mobile number that I am feeding is showing incorrect and is not accepted. Certain people have been able to complete it with great difficulty, but have not received any money yet. We just want to go back to our homes. We cannot live caged like this. The government should help us.”
Jharkhand-based Sikandar Ali, a social activist working to help migrant labourers during the lockdown, said: “The government has definitely launched a lockdown support app, but there are many labourers who do not have Android phones. How they will be helped. They are not getting any help. In many places, the labourers are saying that they are not able to register in the app, so this government assistance will not be enough.”
Bihar government had also announced an assistance of Rs 1,000 each to the labourers stranded in other states. But a large number of labourers have not been able to get this money.
Several labourers from Bihar are trapped in Narela area of New Delhi. Ajay Das, who is living there with six labourers in a room, informed: “There are about 50 more labourers trapped with us here. The situation is such that we also have to buy water for drinking. Many labourers are trapped with their families, so it is a challenge for them to even arrange water.”
He added: “So far as getting financial help from the Bihar government is concerned, those of us who had a big phone (smartphone) had tried hard and managed with great difficulty to get Rs 6,000 among so many people. Many people could not because they did not have a phone or any bank account in Bihar. Many people who are still struggling even to get drinking water, do not have the money at all.”
In such circumstances, there is no option but to return home for these migrant labourers. These migrant labourers, who are suffering badly from hunger and lack of money, are trying to seek government help to return home. After the incidents in Mumbai and Surat, the migrant labourers issue has become politically charged up.
The Congress general secretary and Uttar Pradesh-in-charge Priyanka Gandhi wrote on Twitter demanding to know why each time every calamity breaks down upon the poor and labourers and why decisions are not taken keeping in mind their situation. She bemoaned that they were being abandoned by the government.
She further questioned the opening booking of railway tickets during lockdown. She rued the absence of special trains telling that the workers facing money and food scarcity, are also feeling insecure. So that they may be sent home, Priyanka Gandhi appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for help and reminded that the labourers are the backbone of the country.
Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav wrote on Twitter demanding the government of Uttar Pradesh to evacuate the people of the stranded region in Maharashtra and other states. He challenged the government by asking when the rich can be brought from abroad on planes, why not the poor in trains.
On the other hand, a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court on April 18 for the return of these migrant labourers. The petition has been filed on behalf of senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan. The plea argues that migrant labourers stranded across the country be allowed to go to their homes after proper COVID-19 testing and investigation.
