“I cannot bring myself to return home empty-handed after two months past the lockdown. There is no employment opportunity waiting for me in the village. What will I do there? Here, at least, I can hope of finding some work once the lockdown ends,” said forty-three-year-old Rakesh Kumar, a painter.

When Gaon Connection spoke to more than a dozen labourers like Rakesh at two shelter homes in Lucknow, they all appeared to be in two minds about going home. It was the agony of those labourers who do not have private jobs and have to work as daily wagers.

Lakhs of labourers took to the roads to return to their villages following the lockdown in the country. Someone is walking hundreds of kilometres saddled with a child, while someone is pedaling day-night upon a bicycle to reach home. A few are hitching rides inside cement mixer tanks and some are struggling to reach home on the roads. Some of them are perishing mid-way due to starvation and road accidents. Despite all this, they all want to return to their villages so that they can escape starvation.

However, we met many labourers in these shelter homes, who are just a few hundred kilometres away from their homes but are not looking forward to returning to their villages. These workers have numerous reasons for their staying put. While some do not want to go home empty-handed, some do not see any employment opportunity in the village. Some fear that they may catch corona while commuting and that the infection would then spread to their entire family.

Rakesh, who is from Pilibhit district, said: “We are away from our family and it bothers us. But right now, more than us, our families need the money which we used to send them. Even if I go back, I would not be able to face my family members. This is why I have decided to stay back. If this lockdown extends any further, we all are bound to die of hunger and not corona. If I get work, I would earn a little and then would leave for home.”

Rakesh has been working as a painter in Lucknow for eight years and spent his nights sleeping on the pavement. Like Rakesh, other labourers who are staying at the two shelter homes in Aishbagh in Lucknow, are from different districts of Uttar Pradesh. They work as e-rickshaw drivers, salon owners, plumbers, electricians, tailors or are daily wage labourers. For the past two months, however, their pockets have been empty.

“We had looked forward to the government depositing Rs 1,000 to our accounts. I check every day, but my account has not yet received the money. If it were not for this night shelter, I would have died hungry on the pavement. The Yogi Adityanath government is making all the promises, but so far we did not get any of the benefits,” said Rakesh.

Like Rakesh, none of the 20-22 labourers living there had received Rs 1,000 from the government.

Rakesh said: “I used to sleep upon the pavement as I could not earn adequate money to take a rented room. I am living in this city as a labourer. Who would want to look into our wellbeing? Today, if I fall ill, I do not have even Rs 10 in my pocket for medicine.”

There are 23 shelter homes belonging to the Municipal Corporation in Lucknow which are being operated by some NGOs. Both shelter homes running in Aishbagh are being run by an organization named Badlav. It works for rehabilitation of beggars in Lucknow.

“Although they are provided with food here, it is disturbing for them not to be able to work. They support their families through the wages that they earn. Now since there is no work, they do not have the money. Here, they are disturbed, and there, their families. These labourers are not ready to go home empty-handed. Some people have no hope of employment in the village,” said Ram Ji Verma, a social worker from Badlav.

He added: “They are also worried about the delay in their livelihood restoration and about the wages they would get once it is done. Now, the situation has become such that there would be 10 labourers for one job. Obviously, the wages will come down.”

Sriram Yadav from Deoria district has been working as an electrician in Lucknow for the past 15 years. While the government may have allowed him to work, but the fact is that people are not yet seeking his assistance due to the panic of corona infection.

“Although people have my number, but they are not calling me for work. Every year, by this time, I used to send money for paddy plantation. From May 15, the paddy plantation used to begin. But, this year, it seems that the whole year will be of starvation,” said Sriram Yadav, 42. “The work that I do is not required in the village. Presently, in every village, 200-300 labourers have returned from the cities, so everyone needs work. Who all would get work in the village?” he asked.

Like Sriram, Nagendra Sharma, 27, a resident of Ambedkarnagar, is concerned about his closed hair salon as the government has not allowed the salon, school, cinema and malls to operate. He said: “My father used to run a salon in the village, but he never made a good living, so I had to come to the city. Here, I was managing well. There is a money problem at home, but whom do I borrow money from? Although my family is calling me, I don’t wish to go back. What would I do there? A part of me wants to return to die among my family than alone here; but one would anyway die in absence of livelihood.”

Eight shelter homes in Lucknow are running under the supervision of an NGO Ummeed housing about 100 labourers.

The deputy secretary of the institution, Aradhana Singh Sikarwar, said: “Here, they are getting at least a meal. They are afraid that they will not get anything to eat if they go back home. They are waiting for the lockdown to end so that they can resume their work quickly.”

Shakir Ansari, 28, who is from Bareilly district, is staying at Karhata Shelter home. He worked at a construction site. He said: “The contractor did not pay the money after the lockdown. If I had received money for my work, the money would have been very handy to my family members at this time. My family is in grave trouble currently. I am a lone earner. There is no guarantee now whether I would get work even after opening up of the lockdown. Man will be afraid of man in the time to come.”

“We don’t want the government’s money; it is work that we need. It’s impossible to manage in Rs 1,000 that the government is offering. The government should formulate a strategy so that every labourer gets work in the days to come. If that is not done, the families of the labourers will die of starvation. If the government focuses more on providing jobs to the workers than food and money, we will be happy,” said Shakir.