Centre must reach out to the last man on the road
India has started feeling the tremors of the nationwide lockdown, the shock and awe strategy the Narendra Modi government put in place to fight the deadly Covid-19. Lakhs of migrant labourers in various states, but predominantly those who were employed in the national capital, have started a long march home. But home, in most cases, is hundreds of kilometres away.
With an uncertain future ahead of them, and despairing about the eventual duration of the lockdown, these people do not want to stay where they are, as wanted of them by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he declared the lockdown. They are worried about their families back home, who are also impacted by the measure. Men, women and children have set out on foot to cover distances of 200 km, 400 km and even 600 km as no mode of transport is available.
Saturday saw the worst crowding of people defying the rules of social distancing with milling crowds taking over bus stations in Delhi looking for vehicles that will take them home. About a thousand people came out on the road in Kottayam in Kerala on Sunday, wanting to go home. Government officials and people's representatives talked to them, reassured them of essentials and sent them back to the camps where they had been put up. But their demand remains the same — let us go home.
All this exposes cracks in the harebrained decision of the government to declare the lockdown without assessing its impact on millions of poor, including migrant labour, in the country. The essence of the call was to remain indoors. It was fine for the people who have an assured supply of daily bread; but made a cruel demand on the people who have to eke out a living on a daily basis. And it looks like the government’s relief package will not salvage the situation as man lives not by bread alone. Worries about the safety and health of their families back home would continue to wrench their hearts. They will become restive; and no use of force would be sufficient to contain them. The Union government must address the issue comprehensively. It should work with state governments to keep the migrant labour back, after making them aware of the gravity of the situation and assuring them of their well-being for the period of the lockdown. It should take the last man in the camp into confidence. Next, the government must reassure them that the relief package it announced last week will take care of the immediate needs of their near and dear ones.
The Union government must also help state governments design and implement a comprehensive welfare policy for migrant labour which could outlast the lockdown period. As most states are cash-strapped, it should also consider sharing the financial burden. Urgent and decisive measures are called for, lest the matter go out of control and defeat the very purpose of the lockdown. We cannot have more people dying of disease mitigation steps than of the disease itself.
The essence of the call was to remain indoors. It was fine for the people who have an assured supply of daily bread, but made a cruel demand on the people who have to eke out a living on a daily basis.