The lockdown extension has added to the woes of migrant labourers stranded since March 25
Migrant labourers have been pleading with the government to send them home. These labourers don’t have jobs or the money. They are not used to sitting idle, which is making them restless
Labourers living in Manesar of Haryana's Gurugram district
Gopal Das, a resident of Bhagalpur district in Bihar and about 600 other labourers worked as construction workers at a site at Kherwari Naka in Bandra, Mumbai. A month before the lockdown, the site stopped its work. They had stayed back in the hope that after a few days the situation would be better and they would start getting work again. But that did not happen and the lockdown was further extended for 20 days. Now Gopal Das and his companions are waiting for the lockdown to end so that they can return to their villages at the earliest.
About 1,350 kms away from Mumbai, in Naharpur village of Manesar industrial area of Gurgaon, a few labourers are finding it difficult to pass their day in a ten by ten feet room. They are also worried about the finishing off of ration, emptying pockets, future livelihood and their families living thousands of kilometres away.
On the morning of Tuesday, April 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the extension of the countrywide lockdown to May 3. This further aggravated the worries of migrant labourers who have been stranded in different corners of the country due to lockdown. As the evening approached, there came the news all had been dreading. Thousands of labourers gathered at Bandra station in Mumbai demanding to go home. Earlier, there were reports of uproar by migrant labourers from Delhi and Surat.
There are many videos, photographs and voice messages coming from different parts of the country in which migrant labourers are pleading with the government to send them home. In fact, these labourers neither have the job nor the money left to eat. These workers who work day and night do not have the habit of sitting idle, so it is becoming more difficult them. The experts believe that this lockdown for workers is a social and economic as well as a psychological battle.
On Monday, a letter went viral on social media in which the labourers of Katihar (Bihar) stranded in Bandra, Mumbai, namely Hemant Poddar, Abhishek Kumar and Jitendra Poddar are seeking help from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reach their villages.
In this letter, these workers wrote that they had stayed at home till April 14 and followed the lockdown and listened to the government. Now, the government should also listen to them and make arrangements to send them to their homes on April 15. In this letter, these labourers have also mentioned that the rapid spread of corona in Mumbai and adjoining slum area, mainly Dharavi, has scared them.
In this regard, we spoke on phone to Hemant Poddar, who had written the letter. He said: “It is getting very difficult here. We have not yet received anything in the name of government help. In the early days of lockdown, some NGOs came and we were given khichdi or poori-sabzi. But, recently, the entire neighbouring area has been sealed due to the presence of corona patient. So, the help previously given to us by NGOs is unable to reach us now.”
The central government claims that it is trying to provide all possible help to the labourers in this difficult time of the lockdown. According to the Labour Ministry data, about 22,567 government relief camps have been set up across the country after the lockdown, from where about 10.03 lakh migrant labourers are being assisted, while about 1.5 lakh labourers are being given food and shelter by their employers. Besides, more than 84 lakh labourers are getting food and shelter by NGOs and self-help groups. The government has also set up 20 control rooms across the country to hear and resolve the grievances and needs of the labourers.
But listening to the workers, it seems that the government’s effort is inadequate. “We are sitting in our rooms all day long. If you get out a little, the police run to hit us with their sticks. Even if there is a langar running, we are unable to reach for the fear of the police. We get out once in 5-6 days and manage somehow by bringing rations. We want the Bihar government to get us out of here, even if they put us to quarantine for a few days after our arrival in Bihar,” Poddar told further.
Deepak Paradkar of Ajivika Bureau, an institution working for migrant labourers in the area, told Gaon Connection on the phone: “The hardest thing for us is to convince the labourers to stay here. As the lockdown is extended, the patience of these people is breaking down. They don’t want to stop here anymore and want to go home. They do not have any work, so it is becoming very difficult for them to remain in a small room all day long.”
He added: “In addition, they are also concerned about their family members. When they receive a phone call from home, it turns them restless. Adjoining area is Dharavi, where more than 40 people have become corona positive. These labourers are also afraid of that. To deal with this, the labourers also need psychiatrists besides rations. But where the government facilities are not able to reach the workers, it is a great thing for the psychiatrist to reach.
Paradkar said that no government assistance had reached so far in this colony of 600 labourers. The assistance that has been made is by some NGOs. Similar thing is viewed by the automobile worker Santosh of Manesar.
Santosh of Sitamarhi (Bihar) told Gaon Connection on the phone that despite being an industrial area, no special arrangement for the labourers was made by the government in Manesar. “Neither the camp nor the ration provision had been made. Further, there is no response to the call made on the helpline created by the Haryana government. The money we had with us is already exhausted. Now, we are forced to borrow the ration and manage. We hope that once this is over, we will get to work again, and be able to repay the loans,” Santosh concludes.