Hyderabad: The two-month lockdown chronicles the tragic history of human tragedy for migrant workers. In the last week of March, the central government ordered the states to restrict them wherever they were, with the sole aim of containing the Corona pandemic. The massive foot march of millions of migrant laborers began out of great concern for the wellbeing of their near and dear back home.
Responding to the agonizing appeal that "as though the damage by Corona is not enough, will the government take our lives and livelihood by lockdown" (Corona ne mar rahee hai; jo ooper se sarkar mar dalegi?), the centre started operating shramik special trains from early this month.
Explaining the action taken so far, the government stated that it has sent 35 lakhs people to their destinations in the first three weeks, and another 40 lakhs reached their states through buses - and another 36 lakhs will be sent to their respective states by
operating 2600 special trains in the next ten days. A few days ago, the Union Home Ministry had set standard guidelines for effective coordination between State Governments and Railway Ministries, giving special attention to women and children and to the hygiene, food and health of passengers. Failure to do so has resulted in loot of food parcels and drinking water packets at Delhi railway station in the train bound for Bihar.
The passengers suffered for ten to 20 hours in the trains without even drinking water....leave alone food! Due to heavy rush the trains were either stopped for hours or diverted in some routes resulting in a delay of 30 to 40 hours. The dismal facilities, the extended journey and the unexpected delay in reaching destinations ....have let loose hell on the already depressed workers. The question: "Can’t we respond more humanely to the well-being of the unassuming working class, which is an important part of nation's well-being", is confounding thinkers!
The 2011 Census of India estimated that about 14 crore migrations took place internally domestically in 2011; and an average of 90 lakh migrations annually over the next five years, according to the Economic Survey 2017. Migrations take place predominantly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar followed by Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir. Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, etc., are their main destinations.
The phobia of being infected by the pestilence in an unknown land and passing away as an orphan without anyone around, and the worry for the near and dear one's back home are creating psychological trauma in migrant workers which is making them restless to go to their hometowns at any risk.
Deprived of any transport, some of them embarked on a long journey of hundreds of miles on foot...and some unfortunate ones lost their lives in road accidents. The tragic goods train accident killing 26 migrant workers sleeping on the track dead tired, and the dare devil act of a girl cycling 1200 kilo meters carrying her father (which became a hot topic throughout the world, attracting the attention of Ivanka, daughter of Donald Trump), only reflect the pitiable condition of migrant workers.
According to reports, not more than 30 per cent of migrant workers from Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Haryana and Punjab have been able to travel so far, and that two lakhs of migrant workers will be transported from the combined Telugu States in 140 special trains.
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The Telangana High Court has ordered the state government to send the workers to their destinations; and the Gujarat High Court has ordered that one-way charges of the workers should be borne by the State Governments concerned. It is time for the central and state governments to act with proper coordination between different branches and ensure safe journey of the migrant workers with proper food, comfort and dignity!
