Neetu Singh and Suyash Shadiza

Etawah/ Dhaulpur/Morena (Chambal)

Deserted over the years, villages in Chambal have come alive these days. Many people who had migrated from their village several years ago in search of bread and butter are now returning due to the corona crisis and the lockdown. Because of the long-occurring migration, these labourers couldn’t avail of any of the government benefits and there are no job opportunities in these villages. For how many days will they be able to survive on the ration provided to them by the government? Occupied with this concern, they are now growing restless.

At about 1 PM, many young and elderly from the Gadia Mulu Singh village, situated atop the high dunes among a rough terrain, were sitting beneath the shade of a pipal tree. In a little while, more than 50 people gathered around them. Sixty-year-old Harbilas, who was among the crowd, had come back to his village on March 23, after 25 years. His entire family had migrated due to the lack of employment in the region.

“There is no work available around here,” informed Harbilas, who had returned from Rajasthan. “Wages are also not available. We don’t have any farming land. I had left the village 25 years back. I worked in Agra for a few days, and have been working in Jhalawar since the past 13 years. We face a lot of difficulties while living outside. If we get employment in our own area, perhaps none of us would go out.”

When asked what does he plan to do if he does not find any work in the region, Harbilas said, “If I do not find any employment, I’d have to leave and go back. No call has been received yet from where I had worked last. I don’t know when the factory will restart and when I will find a job. The government must open small factories here so that we need not go out. Who likes to leave one’s home to go outside to work? But what can one do?” he asked.

Harbilas is not the first person in the rugged area seeking employment in his own locality. Gaon Connection team had toured the villages of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh adjoining Chambal in the past one week where thousands of labourers had returned during the lockdown. The agony of dozens of migrant labourers in these rugged villages is similar to that of Harbilas.

The Uttar Pradesh government had conducted a survey among the 23-lakh migrant labourers who had returned to the state during the lockdown. Out of these, 77 per cent of the labourers said that they did not want to go back and wished to work in the state. During the lockdown, more than 35 lakh migrant labourers have returned from other states and cities to the country’s largest state of Uttar Pradesh. A budget of more than Rs 1 lakh crore has been released towards MGNREGS by the central government to promote employment in villages during the lockdown. This includes the budget of Rs 61,500 crore provided for the year 2020-21, with the additional budget of Rs 40,000 crore so that the migrant labours who have returned home can be provided employment opportunities under MGNREGS.

But the government aid and assistance are not showing any significant impact on the people living in Chambal. Alkesh Singh, 40, who lived in the Gadia Mulu Singh village in Chambal, about 32 kms away from the Etawah district headquarters, could not hold his tears back when he talked about how he was treated during the lockdown. When he started talking, everyone fell silent. “We are driven out of the states where we had gone to earn. Who could tolerate such humiliation? These people (migrant labourers) have reached their village by travelling a long distance on foot. We were hungry and thirsty and were beaten up by the police. How would one bring oneself to going back to that city? But poverty doesn’t leave any option for us,” he said.

He added: “Since the past two-three months, everybody is getting free ration from the government, but for how long will we continue like this? The government needs to give us jobs in our region. We do not want anything for free. We are hardworking people. If we manage to find permanent means of employment, we will manage to sustain ourselves.”

According to villagers, every single house in the Miholi Gram Panchayat has at least one of its members living outside to make a livelihood. About 400 labourers have come back to the gram panchayat in the past two-and-a-half months. Nearly 7,000 labourers have returned by train to around 100 gram panchayats of Jaswatnagar, Chakarnagar and Barpura blocks of the ravine areas of Etawah district. No data of those who have come on foot or by other means is recorded anywhere.

As per the data received by the state governments, nearly eight crore migrant labourers have returned during the lockdown. This is for the first time that the state governments have given their own data of migrant labourers. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that the government is making food arrangements for eight crore migrant labourers for the next two months for which an amount of Rs 3,500 crore has been sanctioned. Nonetheless, these schemes are not showing any significant impact in these ravine villages.

“We are not willing to move out to other states for work, but it will be possible only when the government gives us employment here. How can the schemes reach the ravines of Chambal when no one comes here to look at us? We are borrowing money to survive, but for how long can we continue like this?” asked Satendra Singh, 33. He had been working in a private factory in Delhi for 12 years and his earnings supported the entire family.

He added: “If we do not go out, it will be difficult to fire up the home hearth. Whatever little farming land my family has, it only manages to produce a single crop in a year due to water scarcity. Sometimes, there is a flood at the time of harvesting and the entire crop is washed away. It is not necessary that each time everybody gets compensation. If you do not go out and earn, how will the household run?”

The village has never been active. So many people have returned, some after many years. Yet, people are not happy to be home as they are worried about their livelihood. Ever since they have returned to these villages, they are sitting idle with little idea or hope of time that they’d be recalled back to work.

Alkesh said: “We come to know through television news or newspapers about the new schemes that the government may have started, but we never get the benefits. Earlier, there were bandits in this region for many years. The situation was so bad the development evaded us. Even today, teachers, doctors and the police are not willing to come to our villages.”

He added: “There is nothing here to sustain us. It is our compulsion to go out. The government should pay more attention to the villages in such times. Simply handing out ration is not enough. It is considered a crime when we people in the hilly villages cut wood and try to sell it. Daily wages are not available. MGNREGS does not help much. Here, one can barely manage to live but can’t be happy at all. The government should provide us permanent means of employment. Only then the people here would be truly benefitted. Our problems are endless, there aren’t enough pages to pen them all.”

Although there has been a major cleansing of the gangs of bandits from the ravines in the past 20-25 years, the life of the ravine dwellers is still riddled with difficulties. Though there may be no fear of the bandits anymore, the difficulty of livelihood has still not diminished. The migration of people from these areas is a compulsion because they have no source of employment. The land owned by many is also gradually turning into ravines. The land that is still cultivated gets irrigated only by rainwater. Besides, if there is a flood at the time of harvesting, thousands of bigha of ready crops get ruined.

There are certain areas in the Chambal region facing problems that include an area of 12.30 lakh hectares in Uttar Pradesh, seven lakh hectares of Madhya Pradesh and 4.52 lakh hectares of Rajasthan. Over the three decades, 10 per cent of the villages have been completely transformed to the ravines. The villagers of Madhya Pradesh are quite distressed by the growing ravines. Nearly 1,000 villages of Morena, Bhind and Shiopur have been brought to ruin.

Satish Mishra, 50, a resident of Jaura village in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh, citing the major reasons for his migration, said: “If people do not go out, how would they eat? Thirty years ago, there was a sugar mill to provide employment to the people of the flood-affected areas. It has also been lying closed for the past ten years. For three months, people are sitting completely idle because of corona. If this mill was running, people could have been employed here.”

He added: “Small industries should be set up here to prevent further migration. The villages along the river should be secured with dams by the government to protect farmers’ crops against flooding. Villages after villages are being devastated due to the lack of facilities. Those who have returned have not yet been summoned back by their factories.”

To provide employment to the returned migrant labourers, the central government has released large funds to the states under MGNREGS as well as the ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ to promote employment in villages. Through this mission, all the states will be able to provide employment to the returned migrant labourers. A budget of Rs 30,000 crore is being provided to the states in the year 2020-21 under this mission during the corona crisis. It plans to provide piped water to 14.8 crore rural households. This will enable employment of migrant labourers who have returned to their villages in lakhs due to the lockdown.

However, the people of Chambal are totally unaware of all these government announcements. Manoj Kumar, 28, who is from Luhari village of Dhaulpur district in Rajasthan, is employed in Bhopal. Manoj explained: “There is no work in the village. How many will get employment in the village under MGNREGA? Can the work of MGNREGA run our monthly expenses throughout the year? The government may announce all sorts of measures for the labourers, but unless we get the benefit, how will we know that there is a scheme for us too?”