Ranjit Parihar
With India locked down over the coronavirus and no way to earn money, migrant workers face a grim choice either walk home or die hungry. Millions of migrant workers have been left jobless and penniless by the full shutdown in the country that has sparked an exodus from major cities.
In several areas, they are not getting enough food or are living in precarious and hazardous conditions. Many have lost their lives as they tried to make their way home from the urban areas where they were left without work. Both Central and state governments have been accused of not doing enough to alleviate their plight.
At the moment, many such pictures and scenes are coming in between the lockdown implemented in the country and the exodus of workers, which are shaking the heart. Migrant workers recently migrating to their homes from different parts of country are showing their helplessness that due to the closure of business, they had to return home and there was no money left to return home.
Due to the lockdown, businesses and industries have been closed and workers want to go back to their homes. As no transportation is available, they are walking back with small children and the Government is seeing all this with open eyes.
In some cases people have shown cruelty by forcefully vacating workers from rented house as they were not in position to pay rent despite appeal by Prime Minister to exempt them from it . Ever since the lockdown was announced, the migrants have been the hardest hit. They have had to struggle to get back to their homes. The insecurity among them is extremely high as the lockdown has brought several activities to a grinding halt.
In number of case Lakhs of migrant workers returning to their homes from different parts of the country were overcharged by transporters.Majority of workers despite working in factories were not paid wages adding woes to them .
What is tragic is that many have lost their lives while walking back home. Last week, 16 migrants were run over by a goods train when they were making their way to Aurangabad railway station in the hope of catching a train back home in Madhya Pradesh. Reports said that they were tired and were sitting on the track.
The sight of ‘rotis’ strewn on the railway track where the migrants who had fallen asleep due to exhaustion while on their way to Madhya Pradesh were crushed to death showed a heart-wrenching and harsh reality.
The following day, five migrant workers were killed and 13 others were injured, when a truck they were travelling in overturned at Madhya Pradesh’s Narasinghpur district. The truck was carrying mangoes from Telangana to Agra in Uttar Pradesh. On Wednesday night 14 migrant workers were killed in two separate accidents in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. 8 migrant labourers were killed in a road mishap in Madhya Pradesh. The incident took place at Guna late last night. While 8 migrant labourers were killed, at least 50 were injured in the accident. Reports said that the truck in which they were travelling in collided with a bus at Guna.
The migrants were on their way home to Uttar Pradesh. The second incident took place at Sahranpur in Uttar Pradesh. Six migrant labourers were killed and four others injured when a bus ran over them at Sahranpur in Uttar Pradesh, late on Wednesday night. The group of workers were walking back to their village in Gopalganj in Bihar from Punjab after the closure of the factory where they worked.
It is sad to see a young mother with her belongings in one hand and a small child in other walking 1,600 km to reach her destination. It is shameful that the country’s labour class is suffering in this way which shows humanity is dying .
Despite Government efforts things are not in control. We all together should come forward to change things on ground .Despite appeals made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Ministers of the States to stay where they are, migrant labourers are on the move as the Government relief could not reach to deserving .
Need of the hour is that Government of India keeping all the things aside firstly ensure transportation and food for poor migrant workers so that they could reach to their destination safely .Special free trains and buses should be arranged to pick workers from on way so that they may not die in inhuman way which is a blot for humanity and Government Keeping aside political grudge all the political parties , NGOs social and religious organizations should come forward and extend their help to needy poor migrant workers who are in distress at the time of disaster due to covid 19 so that humanity could be saved .It is the not duty of Government only every citizen should shoulder responsibility as it is a world wide pendemic and we all together can fight against it.
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
Follow our WhatsApp channel
