New Delhi: Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown, labourers in Delhi fear hunger will kill them before coronavirus. Deprived of food, daily-wage earners are dying of starvation and have urged the government and the administration to provide them with food.
Workers working in Bhati mines in Chhatarpur have complained that after the lockdown, they are left with no source of income and are starving due to hunger.
Similar heart-wrenching scenes were witnessed in Chhatarpur of South Delhi, where workers, including women wage-earners and children, were standing outside their houses waiting for someone to feed them.
"We have not eaten anything from past four days and we are left with no money. We used to earn daily and feed our families but now after the lockdown, we are left with nothing. Whatever money was left we had spent earlier and now there is no food in the house", said the workers who have requested Modi to look into their grievances.
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They went on to add, "We don't have a ration card. Hailing from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, we are daily wage earners. After the Janata Curfew, we cannot even go back to our villages. We have no clue how are we going to survive".
Not only in Delhi but millions of poor people in India are facing a similar situation. Having no prospect of income for the next weeks, the workers fear that the lockdown will severely affect their daily livelihood. They are not able to contact any government employees or NGOs and panic has gripped among the poor.
However, many state governments, including Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Punjab have promised to provide direct cash transfers into the accounts of construction workers in view of the nationwide lockdown. Centre has also stepped forward to provide support by providing essential food items at subsidised rates but there will be logistical challenges ahead. The country has reported 649 cases of coronavirus cases and 13 deaths so far.
Now the question remains what should these daily wage earners pick? The choice is between hunger and safety.
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