MIGRANT WORKERS

MIGRANTS LABOURERES

Migrant Laboures

The Story So Far

In the midst of a national lockdown that seems to be stretching out, the condition of hungry and home sick migrant workers caught between a situationof ‘no employment, no earnings’ and their dire necessity to sustain themselves has become most heart-rending.Hordes of migrant workers trudge to their far-flung home towns and villages in UP, Bihar,Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh by just any mode if not a Shramik train,by foot or cycle.The treatment extended to many underprivileged citizens,especially guest workers,was in complete violation of human dignity.When many of us are silenced and moved to tears by the images of suffering and also their steel hearted determination to overcome the odds,one wonders why officials are still dithering over helping them.The stranded migrants must be sent back to their home States by operating more trains and arranging for last mile connectivity by operating road transport exclusively for them.

Humanitarian Crisis

Main Cause Of Concern

This unprecedented crisis has created panic among migrants who were suddenly left without any income security.A vast majority of them lost their livelihoods and were threatened more by the prospect of death by starvation than by the virus.And they have walked thousands of kilometres to go back home to States such as Bihar,Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh because, for them,a home coming was the last resort to stay alive.Instead of action by the government,the helping hands seem to be from the Opposition
.This was at the very time that social media were full of visuals of workers trudging miles and miles.Guidelines for inter State travel of guest workers were issued almost a month into the lockdown.It was all very callous.We all know of the tragic Aurangabad incident that saw a goods train mow down 16 migrant workers.They,like millions of others on highways,were walking to their villages and collapsed in exhaustion on the railway tracks too exhausted to hear the train coming.Those type are with little,or no formal education,though often with special skills.The second type desperately tried to get back to their home states.With no trans-portation,they started the arduous trek,on foot,interspersed with lifts from trucks and other commercial carriers,many of them charging hefty fare for the ‘cattle-class’ ride.We missed thinking about them till we saw them walking on our locked down streets.Till they came out on the streets, they were invisible,after they came out, they became a threat to be met with lathis and tear gas.But the virus and the lockdown increased their vul-nerability because of these reasons.The contractor who supplies the labour is not required to maintain any official third party verifiable roster.It is no wonder that they were invisible till they spilled out onto the streets.For a long time, as the travails of the walking class nearly overwhelmed the pandemic in the nation’s collective consciousness.It was the Auraiya Road Tragedyon May 16 that resurrected the political polemics.A truck carrying migrants smashed into another vehicle, killing 24 of them.On May 1,some Shramik Express trains were flagged off from certain destinations to take back migrant workers to their home States,but there was another shock the charges levied by the Indian Railways.How can this be justified in a situation such as this? What is the meaning of being a citizen of this country.

Travails Of migrant workers

What Lies Ahead?

They work in the unorganised sector with no one employer and depend entirely on labour contractors and community networks to find their next jobs. They operate outside the official or institutional social safety nets in their place of work example,no ration cards in place of work,though they have ration cards back home no pension or gratuity,etc.And, importantly,the state where they work does not recognise them as ‘citizens’ of that state because they vote in their home states.Their contribution,too.The majority of migrants were primarily working in industrial and construction sectors.They have always given their best to the nation.It’s very shameful that they are trudging on foot to go back to their native places.They worked in sunny summers,soaked in sweat to make large buildings.Please don’t forget their contribution.Tenants are being kicked out by the land-lords because they have failed to pay rent. There should be no difference between the higher and weaker classes among the migrants.They all have contributed to the nation through their services.

Conclusive Remarks.

The matters of lives and livelihoods should not be pitted against each other.Both issues have to be taken care of simultaneously. The nation is passing through a grave crisis in which a state of denial can be counterproductive.India’s economy is no longer capable of absorbing the shocks from monumental blunders already committed.The country must be rescued from this terrible mess. Mere rhetoric will not help.

Milan Tomic

Hi. I’m Designer of Blog Magic. I’m CEO/Founder of ThemeXpose. I’m Creative Art Director, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Industrial Designer, Web Developer, Business Enthusiast, StartUp Enthusiast, Speaker, Writer and Photographer. Inspired to make things looks better.