Migrant Workers’ Long Distress March

In the wake of the ongoing Corona Virus pandemic, images of migrant workers’ treacherous walk back home from the cities built with their sweat and blood shall continue to haunt India’s conscience for a long time. While these workers - some barefoot, some carrying sacks on head or infants on shoulders - walked in the sweltering heat, the political executive and heartless bureaucrats looked the other way from their airconditioned offices.

In the backdrop of affluent Indians’ evacuation by air from abroad, works’ plight stood out as abject neglect of the poor. Bharat Mata does not live in inanimate portraits; she lives in the souls of India's working class and their toil.  (Mis)management of the migrant workers' immediate requirements created huge problems. Abandoned by their employers, turned away by their landlords and with no social security guaranteed by the governments they elected, these workers were left high and dry on the unending road home.

Jean Dreze, a noted economist who dedicated his life to the study of poverty and inequality, said, "the lockdown has been like a death sentence for the underprivileged'. He maintains that 'policies made to contain pandemic have been made or influenced by a class of people who pay little or no attention to the consequences of the underprivileged”. He has left nothing unsaid.

According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), an estimated 122 million lost their jobs in April 2020 alone. Of these, more than 40 million are likely to be migrant workers. A survey conducted by Stranded Workers Action Network (SWAN) claims that 78% of migrant workers had not received the salary for the lockdown period, 82% had not received any ration from the government and 64% had less than one hundred rupees left with them.  With no jobs and with saving depleting, one wonders how the government thought of halting them at their places of stay. Of course, the government announced an Rs.3,500 Cr Food Support Programme for the migrants, how and how long would that be implemented remains unclear.

The Central government invoked the Disaster Management Act appropriating to itself extraordinary powers. It was PM’s call, on 18 March 2020, to observe ‘Janta’ curfew on 22 March 2020 that set-in fears of loss of jobs among migrant workers. As they were preparing to leave for their villages, the entire railway network came to a screeching halt on 21 March 2020.

At 8 P.M. on 24 March 2020, a three-week lockdown was announced by the PM, giving just four hours’ notice to the nation. Whatever was the reason to keep the decision secret, thousands of workers panicked to bus stands, hoping to catch the first available transport back home. With buses off-road, the humanitarian crisis of humongous proportions ensued.  Ever since the demonetization exercise, post facto justification of ill-conceived decisions is a routine to cover up arrangements that broker no conviction.

There are reports that the government was under pressure from the industry to prevent workers from leaving cities for fear of not having enough labour to restart economic activity. That Karnataka builder lobby exerted influence on CM to cancel Shramik trains lends credibility to such talk. After an uproar in the media, the CM reversed his decision.  

As the crisis deepened, the Central government tried to fight the fire by directing states to take care of migrant workers’ food and shelter needs. Since these workers were not their vote bank, latter palmed off the responsibility to workers’ employers. With all shrugging shoulders, political chicanery was all too manifest. Modi’s ‘Garib Kalyan’ turned out to be a mere political slogan like Indira Gandhi’s 'Garibi Hato.'  

. There was not a word about workers in the initial set of guidelines issued by the government. Only when some TV channels beamed pictures of them traveling hundreds of kilometers to their home on foot, on bicycles, in trucks and even in concrete mixing trucks did the government take notice.  Ruling party propagandists were quick to blame political opponents for highlighting such ‘stray’ instances for their political gains.

Even news about deaths of walking migrants due to exhaustion did not shake the government out of its lethargy. It was only when some workers were mowed down by speeding trains or killed when trucks carrying them turned turtle did the parties in power feel electoral turf sinking under their feet.

 Initially, state governments came up with a ridiculous proposal of running buses to ferry workers back home. As migrants lined up in unending ques, did New Delhi wakeup to the enormity of this human crisis's political fallout. Eventually, the government decided to run trains. Bureaucrats instituted a money-filter, cruelest way to keep the poor out to control the flow of passengers. The workers paid for their journey, not only the standard fare but also a surcharge.

No sooner did the news spread that the workers had to pay for their ride, hell was let loose in the media. To douse the criticism, the railway minister came up with his first lie that railways had subsidised the fares by 85% while states had to bear balance 15%. The truth is that the workers paid for their travel. Those who couldn't pay, they decided to walk back home.  

Most liberal estimates projected that the government would have had to incur a cost of Rs. 4,200 Cr to carry all stranded workers. Compare this cost to the expenditures of Rs. 3, 000 Cr to build the Statue of Unity and Rs. 1,000 Cr to host ‘Namaste Trump’ event. Then there is undisclosed sum collected under PM Care drive. Whose money is all this?

While the nation certainly owes its gratitude to 'COVID Warriors', Armed Forces' (AF) extravaganza exposed the government's misplaced priorities when thousands of India's citizens were walking on roads empty stomach. Admiral Arun Prakash, Former Naval Chief, said, “there is much more the armed forces could have done” beyond flypasts and showering petals. He further added, "(the AF) have deep resources and organisation, and all that is needed is for the govt to call on them."

The politicians and the ‘entitled Indians’ carried their wards to the safety of their homes. Anil Singh, Bihar BJP MLA, dared to drive his son home from Kota, Rajasthan, while his CM refused to take back workers. Double standards were manifest.

Further, there was no political slugfest between BJP and Congress when children of the ‘entitled class’ were ferried, in UP government buses, from Kota to UP. With eye on UP elections, both BJP and Congress got entangled in a disgraceful political blame game over the provision of transport for migrants. Whatever be the reasons for refusing Congress’s offer, Yogi Adityanath lacked magnanimity to override his political compulsions.

When priority should have been to look after millions of jobless poor in India, the government announced an economic stimulus package of 20 Lakh Cr to cover its failure to manage the migrant worker crisis. Upon reading the fine print, it turns out to be a big ‘loan mela,' mostly for Medium Small and Micro Enterprises (MSME) Sector. The government spends a meager Rs. 1.76 Lakh Cr out of its kitty.

India is home to 6% of the global population that lives in extreme poverty. While 22% of our poor live below the poverty line in urban areas, rural India is home to 25.7% of the poor under this line. Amelioration of poverty may still be a distant dream, but the Indian political class wallows in enormous wealth. India’s poor may take decades to lift themselves out of the abyss of poverty; the politicians double their wealth in just five years. Closer home, in 2014 parliamentary elections two contesting candidates of Udhampur -Doda constituency, declared that they had doubled their assets to 7.08 Cr and 2.03 Cr between 2014 and 2019. Then why should the political class waste time on the welfare of migrant workers?

            The nation needs to learn lessons from the current migrant worker crisis. Regretfully, we lack critical data on migrant workers in terms of who they are, where they work and their vulnerabilities. To prevent a repeat of a migrant crisis, we must urgently compile this database. The country needs to be more sensitive to its real nation builders. Indeed, the 2020 labour crisis will not leave politics untouched for, in 2014, it was the marginal labour that went home as brand agents of Modi’s great Gujarat story.