Labourers living in quarantine centres in this tribal village are going hungry

Many labourers are living in two quarantine centres in Kurud village in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. The administration has asked their family members to get meals for them, which has put them at risk

Himanshu Singh
| Updated: May 25th, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown has affected the labourers the most. They had migrated to big cities in search of a better life. But, due to the acute problem of food that they have been facing in these cities during the lockdown, there has been a reverse migration of labourers in India. Many labourers are returning to their villages on foot.

Many labourers from Maharashtra who had moved to different states are now returning home. These labourers are being tested for and quarantined for 14 days upon their return and the government is claiming that it is providing them with food and basic amenities for 14 days. But the situation on the ground is different in Kurud village in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, which is a tribal-dominated region, about 900 kms from Mumbai. Here, the administration is seen withdrawing support instead of providing facilities.

A total of 32 labourers from Kurud had migrated to other states for work. But when they returned to their villages due to the lockdown, the labourers were examined and quarantined for 14 days as per the orders of the government. Two schools near the gram panchayats are being used for this purpose. Seventeen labourers were kept in the District Council School for Girls and 15 labourers were kept in the Zila Parishad School. Out of the 32 labourers, 14 labourers have completed the 14 days of quarantine.

Many labourers from Maharashtra who had moved to different states are now returning home

Shaheen, a labourer living in the district council school’s quarantine centre, said: “We are 15 people here and there is no provision of food. Food was provided for 4-5 days by the gram panchayat. When they had stopped providing food to us, we had asked the sarpanch why we were not given any food. The sarpanch replied that the tehsildar had refused to provide food and that he can no longer arrange for food for us. We were told to arrange for food on our own.”

The same is the case with the other quarantine centre. Gunvir, who was living in the other quarantine centre, informed that he was working in Telangana. He lost his job because of the lockdown and he was forced to return home. After returning to the village, Gunvir was quarantined at a place where there is no provision for food. He informed that they were given food for a few days, but then the administration stopped. When the workers interacted with the local administration as to why they did not get food thereafter, the local administration said that since they did not get anything from the state government, they also can’t provide anything to the labourers. The officials also told the inmates to arrange for food on their own.

The question remains as to why these labourers are not being provided with basic facilities and why is the government claiming otherwise? In the absence of facilities, the labourers are visibly helpless and upset. All the government’s claims are proving to be false and baseless.

In view of the coronavirus pandemic, the government had offered an economic package of Rs.1.7 lakh crore. The government had claimed it will spend about Rs 1,200 on each citizen through this package.

The government claims it is providing basic facilities to the quarantined labourers, but the ground reality is quite different. Surendra Chandel, a social worker from Kurud, said: “When I put the problem of labourers before the tehsildar, he turned down the responsibility and said that it is not his job to provide food to the labourers. The labourers must ask their family members for food. The local administration says that they are not being provided with any kind of facility by the state government.”

The workers had, with great hope, looked up to the government for succor, but the government, on the contrary, has only increased the difficulties for them instead of addressing their distress. While the government claims that all the people living in quarantine centres are being provided with basic facilities, all its claims are hollow.

Fear of infection among family members

While 18 labourers are being quarantined, they are compelled to arrange for food from their homes due to which their family members are also constantly coming in contact with the labourers and facing a possible threat of corona infection.

The families of the labourers feel extremely scared of contracting corona from someone infected in quarantine when they come to deliver food to their own kin. At the same time, the labourers also are complaining and demanding to know why they are kept in quarantine when there are no facilities here. The state government and the local administration need to take up the issue seriously and address the problems of the labourers.

Himanshu Singh is our community journalist from Gadchiroli, Maharashtra.