Guest workers back home, but no end to their woes
23 per cent of guest workers in MP left with less than `100, says survey
Sumitra Adivasi (28) of Mochakhud village under Pohari tehsil in Shivpuri district in Madhya Pradesh shudders to think of her life post-lockdown.
She along with her husband, Tulsi, and their four children have landed in their village from Bhairanad near Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan where the couple was engaged as agriculture labourer, in second week of May.
“We get wheat as wages for labour there. We had to wait for nearly a month in Sawai Madhopur to find a mode of transportation to our village. We along with two dozen others finally set out our long arduous journey to our village, sometimes walking and sometimes in tractors and trucks on May 3 when we lost all hope of getting any vehicle”, she told this newspaper.
She had almost lost her
18-month-old daughter while crossing Chambal on the way. The baby slipped from her hands into the river. Her husband dived into the river to rescue the child.
“We had total `5,500 with us when we left Sawai Madhopur. By the time we reached our village, we had `2,800 with us. We have to start our life afresh with this meager saving,” her husband said.
The couple has received
105 kg of wheat under Antodyoya scheme. “We may carry on for a couple of months. But, we are facing an uncertain future if we do not get any work,” Tulsi said.
Tulsi is not the lone victim. Maniram Ahirwar
(42) of Tila village under Niwad district shared similar apprehension. He along with his wife Poonam returned from Kapaseda in Haryana last month after their contractor removed them from the job.
They were working as labourers in a construction site.
“We have only `900 with us,” Maniram said. He, however, hoped that the couple could manage things for three months as sowing season was about to set in.
A survey of 360 guest workers, returned to their villages from various states following lockdown, conducted by a Bhopal-based NGO, Vikas Sambad, has revealed that “23 per cent of guest workers were left with an amount of less than `100, while seven per cent did not have a rupee with them.
About 25.2 per cent of workers had money ranging from `100 to `500, while 18 per cent of works have a savings ranging from `500 to `1,000. Only 11 per cent workers have a cash of more than `2,000 with them. “Covid-19 is not just a health-related disaster. It is also a social and economic emergency that pushed India into a whirlpool of uncertainty,” said right to food activist Sachin Kumar Jain, who studied reverse migration in MP.
The guest workers who hailed from Madhya Pradesh worked in construction sector, business and enterprises and different factories and industries in those states.
“The lockdown has shattered our dreams and shaken our faith in the system. We have been treated shabbily by our employers, who have left us in lurch. We had to walk miles without food and water to return to our villages. The bittersweet homecoming will remain etched in our memory for the rest of our life,” 28-year-old R.K. Ahirwar, who returned from Mumbai to village on the outskirt of Bhopal said. He was working as a carpenter in Mumbai and earning around `400 per day.
He left Mumbai along with around 100 other youths of the region in mid-April and reached his village in the first week of May.
“Majority of us are unsure of migrating back to Mumbai. We know, there is hardly any employment opportunity here”, he added.
“Post-lockdown may turn out to be nightmare for us as we are uprooted of our livelihood now”, R K Mallavya, another guest worker in the area said.