Migrant Labourers chaos amidst pandemic.
Introduction:
Immigrant workers
are the backbone of many economies in Asia and the Middle East and are a source
of income for repatriated families. But the pestilence has hit these workers,
causing them to lose some jobs or face salary cuts. Prime Minister Narendra
Modi has announced that the corona virus-lock down has been extended to May 3,
with large numbers of migrant workers earning daily wages demanding
transportation from Mumbai to their respective states. Daily wage workers have
been unemployed since the lock down was announced late last month to prevent the
spread of Covid-19 and now their lives have become a constant struggle.
Why this chaos started?
It is not common
for a state's top bureaucrat to dial his / her counterpart from other states
seeking help to ensure the supply of migrant seasonal workers. All of this
happened when there was a nationwide lockdown. Their contribution to the two
key sectors of the economy is agriculture and construction. Of these,
construction may wait but agriculture cannot. There is no exact information but
it is estimated that there are about 4 crore seasonal migrant workers in
India.They help
agriculture in Punjab, Haryana, Telangana, Maharashtra and elsewhere.
The main source of this workforce comes from eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar
and Jharkhand, as well as parts of Madhya Pradesh.
The national
lockdown due to Covid-19 came at the middle of the rabi harvest season.
Lockdown has shut down the[i]
construction work everywhere. A large number of these workers remain in the
construction site and earn daily wages. At this time, they go to farms to
harvest crops during the Rabi and Kharif seasons.In large agricultural states
it is the time to harvest rabi crops such as wheat, mustard and pulses. The
lockdown has seen the unexpected influx of workers from many parts of the
country. All of them are moving to their home states, commonly called Poorwanchal,
which is a never ending poverty.
Newspapers have
pointed out that Punjab, Haryana and Telangana have been most affected by the
migration of migrant labourers during the rabi season. These states rely
heavily on the migrant workforce to harvest, load and unload their products for
transportation. These pictures of poor were strewn on TV channels, they fled
the grounds, but a new wave of migrant workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh did
not make it into the realms of the major agricultural states. They cannot board
trains for their field destination. Telangana had earlier estimated 1.05
crore tonnes of rice and 14.40 lakh tonnes of maize bumper crop. The same
is true of the rest of the country.
The Union
Agriculture Ministry's pre-covid-19 estimates indicate that India will set
another record for high food grain production at around 292 million tonnes
in 2019-20.[ii] Wheat,
the main rabi crop, is estimated to be 106 million tonnes. Harvesting
has already begun in parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. As Punjab and Haryana
stare at the dire situation arising from the Covid-19 lockdown, some workers
and crop machinery have been caught in these states.
What made the labourers to struggle
amid pandemic?
India's supply
chain is also heavily dependent on migrant workers. It is interrupted by
coronavirus lockdown. The mercenaries are also earning and therefore there is a
loss in jobs.The bank had no savings during the extended lockdown, with most of
them reporting news of a two-month lockdown in China and the spread of the rest
of the world.The escape of migrant labourers and their unavailability in the
fields of rabi crops somehow made India realize that these non-poverty faces
are important to their survival.Although authorities and NGOs have made
arrangements for their food, but most of them want to return to their own
places.
Problems faced by labourers while rescue towards their homeland:
Thousands of
labourers had rescued from Delhi initially towards their homes that are miles
away from them. The scarcity of food and shelter made them took this step to reach
their homes barefooted without any assistance of transport. This lockdown has
taken away their sources to live life peacefully. Many of the labourers had
went through number of accidents while traveling along their way.As the
nationwide lockdown progressed, so did their supply. Like millions of other
unofficial, migrant laborers across the country, they are trapped in the city
they work in, and have been out of work or wages for weeks now. They were all
out resources now.
What caused Mumbai police to start a lathi-charge?
1,000 people with
daily wages gathered at the suburban Bandra (West) bus depot near the railway
station and squatted on the road.There was heavy police deployment at the site
to resolve any undesirable incidents. Staff from other police stations were
called to the spot.Initially, the police sought to persuade local community
leaders to leave the area, but refused to distribute the labor, so the police
resorted to lathicharge.
Equivalent view of Mumbra:
After Bandra,
similar scenes were seen in Mumbra, a suburb of Thane district. Many migrant labourers
gathered in Mumbra. They demanded that they be allowed to return to their
hometowns.Many told police they wanted to go for a walk home. The police tried
to calm the situation, but later had to use a lathicharge to disperse the
crowd. People have complained that their money is over and they don't even have
money for food.
Amid the chaos, the political finger began to point:
The political
blame game, meanwhile, is already underway on the situation. While BJP Maha
Vikas attacked the Aghadi government for abuse and lack of assistance for the
poor, the Shiv Sena and Congress said the Centre had no plans to create the
situation.
BJP Maharashtra leader Kirit Somai urged the Maharashtra
government to understand the seriousness of the situation. Thousands of people
moving outside Bandra East Station (Sikh) are a matter of concern. The
Government of Maharashtra should improve the distribution of food grains and
rations to the people.[iii]
Judiciary on
Migrants labourers chaos:
Stranded migrant workers who were forcibly
placed in quarantine camps and tested negative for COVID-19 should be allowed
back to their hometowns. In a petition to the Supreme Court, officials said
that the authorities should not stop them from visiting their loved ones.The
petition was filed jointly by Jagdeep S. Chokar, a former faculty member of the
Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), and Delhi-based lawyer Gaurav Jain.
The continued abstinence of migrant workers during the lockdown, which was
extended until May 3, was an "unreasonable limitation" on their
fundamental rights to equality and dignity.
The petition states that migrant workers are
among those most affected by the lockdown. They are kept away from their
families, and, perhaps, the source of shelter and livelihood in their villages.
The lockdown caused more suffering than the average earning citizen surrounded
by their homes. Disappointment among workers over their conditions has led to
recent protests. The first phase of the lockdown showed a clear desire to leave
the cities to their villages, crowded and chaos at various terminals shortly
after the announcement on March 23.[iv]
Conclusion:
It can be concluded by saying that now the
steps have been taken. The Government of India have arranged all the required
procedure of getting down the people to their homes even from the outside of
the country. All the State governments have been instructed to spread the
procedure of how to get enrolled in the travellers list and the other
requirements to get fulfilled with preventive measures during travel. More than
10,000 trains will be accessible for the journey as announced by the
Railways.
[i] Facts available at https://www.thehindu.com
[ii] Facts available at https://www.ricemedia.com
[iii] Facts available at https://www.indianepress.com
[iv] Facts available at https://www.livelaw.com
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