‘We don’t respect labourers enough’
The last few weeks have been quite challenging for actor-singer Meiyang Chang who, along with his friends, has been helping migrant workers near Malad, Mumbai. “The more we did for them, the less it was. I was heartbroken and helpless. It was like a partition scene and looking at small kids walking miles with their parents to reach home hit me so hard. Nobody deserves to go through this,” he tells us.
Recalling his encounter with Sugrim, a labourer, Chang, 37, says, “He looked drunk but was very ill. We thought he might be suffering from Covid-19. We then found out he was from Bihar and his parents were no more and his sister lives in Mumbai. We called for an ambulance and the next day we went to the hospital to see him, we were told nobody by that name was admitted. It was as if he had given up on his life and left the hospital.” Three days later, Chang says they found him nearby and understood that the hospital refused to admit him due to some
“formalities”. That’s when reality hit Chang hard. “We don’t respect labourers enough in the country because of the disparity in class between the rich and poor and socioeconomic gap. The mindset that they are below us has crippled our society, and needs to change,” he says.
The actor feels these migrants could’ve been sent home in a better condition, adding, “We need a big movement to provide relief to them and create enough job opportunities in all states so that they don’t have to struggle for a living.”