Mohammed Hakim was glad to be sitting in his own village in Bihar's Katihar district on Tuesday morning, as he watched the Prime Minister's speech extending the lockdown on his mobile phone. At least 40 fellow Bihari migrant workers, unemployed and hungry, were still stuck in south Delhi's Jal Vihar basti where The Hindu met them on March 31.
“I left with some friends six days ago, because I was starving there. It took us four days to drive our autorickshaw to Bihar, and now I am in quarantine because my neighbours are worried I brought the coronavirus . But at least there is food here for now,” said Mr. Hakim, speaking on the phone .
The extension of the lockdown without the announcement of any additional relief measures, has created a new wave of migrant workers desperate to leave the cities.
“The PM could have utilized this golden opportunity to announce relief measures for the millions of precarious daily-wage workers and the migrant workers who will now be potentially unemployed for 40 days,” said K.R. Shyam Sundar, a professor at the Xavier School of Management in Jamshedpur, warning that lives may be saved from COVID, but livelihoods face serious risk.
“The next three weeks are going to be much worse than the last three weeks because people have run out of whatever little money or food they had saved up,” said Nikhil Dey, a Rajasthan-based social activist with the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan. “Many were counting down the days until April 14, and will be devastated by the PM's extension announcement. The situation is explosive in some areas.”
He noted that apart from traditionally vulnerable communities, lakhs of people have been newly “pauperised” by the lockdown, and pleaded for universal rations and immediate cash transfer through the MGNREGA scheme.
On Sunday, following an altercation over the lack of food, some migrant workers set fire to three night shelters in north eastern Delhi. “Since then, no food has reached these people at all. This is collective punishment,” said Anjali Bhardwaj, an activist with the Delhi Roti Rozi Adhikar Abhiyan. “In his speech, the PM recognised the hardship faced by many, but failed to say what the government is doing so that they survive the lockdown.”
The Stranded Workers Action Network (SWAN), started by civil society volunteers on March 27, has recieved over 11,000 SOS calls so far.
“More than 90% of these families have not recieved wages or government rations during the lockdown and more than 75% have less than ₹300 to survive the next three weeks,” said Rajendran Narayanan, an assistant professor at Azim Premji University and SWAN volunteer.
“Apart from migrant workers, we have even started getting calls from villages as thousands of people are without ration cards and food supply chains are getting disrupted. At least, the PM should have announced rations for everyone, and payment for MGNREGA workers who cannot get work,” said Abhay Kumar, the Karnataka coordinator of the Grameen Coolie Karmikara Sangathan, a registered union for rural workers.
