Challenges of Migrant workers

From the moment lockdown has been announced in India, migrant workers are one who have been most affected by it. Initially nation wasn’t aware of their plight but when news channels featured their stories, we came to know about their challenges which were not only nerve gripping but emotionally draining too. Thousands of laborers took to the roads to march to their hometowns, which were hundreds of kilometers away, as they didn’t had money and food to survive through the lockdown period. For them death was inevitable either by Covid or by starvation, hence the exodus of migrant workers began.

Taking stock of situation government agencies flung into action to provide both food and shelter to migrant workers, NGOs across India too came out in support of migrant workers to provide them with meals. Joined efforts of both government and NGOs yielded result and exodus of migrant workers stopped. But after the extension of lockdown, things took ugly turn when migrant workers took to the roads in Mumbai, Gujarat and other parts of the country. Migrant workers are being criticized widely in social media for their act but let’s take moment to understand the reason of their act and then reach to any conclusion.

Food

Without food and water neither human beings nor animals will survive for long, that’s one of the concerns of migrant workers as they aren’t sure of whether they will get their next meal or not? Migrant workers are being fed with two meals a day, one in afternoon then at night, that too with no assurance when it will stop. There are times when some of them retire to bed empty stomach too.

If migrant workers are assured of seamless supply of food and water all throughout the lockdown period, things will be better for them as their major concern for survival will come to an end.

Wages

Most migrant workers are paid wages on daily basis, i.e. they get money only for the days they are at work and not for non-working days. Now with lockdown in place migrant workers are not sure, will they be paid wages or not? Most of them have run out of their savings now, while others don’t even have single penny with them. With no surety about wages or revival of work, workers are worried about their livelihood and of their family members who are dependent on them for monetary support.

If clear guidelines are passed to the migrant workers about what lies ahead for them after the lockdown, focusing mainly on their wages and chances of employment, anxiety of workers will be reduced considerably.

Shelter

With lockdown in place, many migrant workers have taken refuge in under construction buildings or in make shift arrangement done by their employers. But all these places lack electricity, sanitation and hygiene which irritates the laborers more and they do the unexpected by getting on to the roads.   

If migrant workers are provided better living conditions, then they might stay back at their place.

This is the time when we should try to spread harmony among masses and not hatred, migrant workers also form a part of it. So let’s all of us join our hands together to comfort the plight of migrant workers to make them feel more safe and secure in which ever city they are.

Let’s not forget NGOs warriors

Lockdown in India has affected the lives of many people adversely, worst are the daily wagers, who earn and eat on daily basis. Now with no job and money in hand they are forced to fight a battle against starvation too along with corona.  Many people weren’t aware about their plight until NDTV brought their stories before the nation.

Nation was so moved by the plight of these people, who were forced to be without food that both government and NGOs thronged in to action to ensure, no one goes to bed without food.  Many NGOs took up the responsibility to provide food the needy abiding by the norms of the administration.

There were challenges before the NGOs before they could venture out to support the needy people, first of course was funds, then grocery, data of people, resources for both delivery as well as for cooking. Funds were collected through facebook postings and WhatsApp share, since all payments were digital. it was directly credited to the account of NGOs.

Once funds were arranged NGOs were able to procure grocery easily but the biggest challenge for them was to find helping hands to prepare food, pack food and deliver them to the needy people. When the cause is to serve manhood, there’s nothing stopping you, same was the case with NGOs too, since most people were at home with no worthy activities to get involved in, they extended their support to these NGOs.

Once the food was read NGOs had another challenge waiting for them, which was to identify areas where people are stranded without food and non-restrictive movement of their vehicles within city. Since people had pooled in to support NGOs in their cause, they took up this responsibility too, so that food is prepared on priority without thinking about delivery and areas to be delivered.

With the support of masses NGOs got details of people struck at various places across city and NGOs also procured passes for their vehicles to move freely within city limits. With all such details in hand, NGO workers and volunteers ventured into roads to feed food to the needy people. 

During their distribution process they came across people stranded at both railway and bus stations with no support from anyone. For them volunteers from these NGOs were no less than messengers from god, some even that felt their prayers have been answered.

People who went to distribute food to these people on the first day, were so moved by witnessing the difficulty of these under privileged people, that they decided to be available for these people on daily basis till the lockdown period. It really take lot of courage to do that because these volunteers are at very high risk of getting infected by the Covid 19, as they come in contact with lot of people on daily basis and  travel extensively to feed the needy.

Though NGOs are doing their best but I can’t there mention in media or any other channels, which saddens my heart, hence I decided to do my bit by writing about them.

Great work to all NGOs across and their staff for working for serving mankind as always, keep up the good work.

Kudos to NDTV for helping migrant laborers across India

Lockdown of services across India for 21 days was announced suddenly due to fast growing Corona positive cases in India and it came as shock to all Indian citizens. But there were few who were really hit hard by this decision of government and they were the migrants workers spread across country.

The moment they heard this news, first thing which crept into their mind was to head back to their homes reason all of sudden they were rendered jobless and didn’t had the money sustain through the lockdown period. As most of them were daily laborers who earn hand to mouth and this situation was new to them, as this has been implemented for the first time in the country.

To make matter worse all forms of commute like railways, buses and even flight services were stalled during the lockdown period, this added fuel to the fire of the plight of migrant workers. They don’t even have money to pay rent for the month and are not sure how long will it take for them get employed again? Equipped will these problem in hand they decided to march towards their home town irrespective of the distance.

NDTV was first one to draw the attention of the nation towards the plight of migrant workers, as it’s not an easy task to walk hundreds of kilometer, that too without food and water. Some even has kids with them and few were just months old, which made the journey cumbersome but it didn’t deter the spirits of the laborers.

The moment this news was aired by NDTV, nation came together to help the people and they tweeted about it in social media a lot. Thanks to the joint effort of NDTV and the people of India, several state governments came forward to the respite of these people. Now buses have been arranged for all them to ply them back to their hometown and they have been provided with food and water at shelter homes where they are eagerly waiting for their buses.

I read a lot in media that WHY are these workers going back to their home town rather they can stay back in which ever state they are currently as they are risking their life along the ones in their villages or cities.

The answer is these people are worried about their future as they have no means of livelihood to survive in cities now and they are not sure how long with this situation continues to prevail and have no one to rely upon during this crisis. Though state government is trying everything possible to comfort these laborers and their family but in this panic situation all they want is to be at home with their loved ones. It’s more of an emotional calling of this workforce which is forcing them to go back home at any cost.

The most important question which is being missed by people is “Who will feed these people on the 22^nd day” ie the day when PAN India lockdown ceases. Can someone ANSWER this question, I doubt. These workers are actually thinking about their life after the lockdown period, to which none of have an answer.

So let’s not judge them and respect their feeling.

NDTV once again you did a commendable job, you were the flag bearer of this story which is now being covered by all leading news channels, print media and the political circle, which led to quick resolution of the issue.

NDTV, hats off to your team and their unique story coverage in the country