The constantly ignored pillars in the palace

Raju exclaimed in an exasperated manner: “ Another income tax raid......, three held for rape and murder charges....... dad what is the point of giving attention to news if it breeds such repulsive ideas and spreads so much negativity?” His father wisely explained through an anecdote: “ a king once wanted to test his courtiers. He ordered his soldiers to bring a barrel filled three fourths with water. He further poured oil till the brim. One by one he called his fellowmen to identify the liquid. All of them were puzzled for the answer was so blatantly obvious but they all still went on to confirm through their sense of smell and touch that it was indeed oil.

Finally, the king clarified that while their answer was partially correct, the complete truth lay within, waiting to be explored... similarly son this is the time to give your power of sight a real exercise, always aim to search beyond what is fed to you and delve deeper. Only then will you understand the complete essence of news and the relevance that it has in our day to day lives.

So here I attempt to bring into account the current impact that this corona is having on a particular section of our population: our migrant and guest workers. While the current situation hugely varies for different groups , the intensity of damage and suffering have to be brought to the limelight.

I thereby ask you all to use your binoculars( your eyes obvio) as we first take an observant look at how the life of a migrant daily wage worker currently is:

Ajmal was waiting in yet another long queue as many migrants like him continued to line up outside the medical examination centre. He was anxious to receive the health certificate immediately so that he and his family were physically fit to board a train and reach Bihar as soon as possible. He had worked at a construction site in Chennai for the past 3 years. The virus had completely shattered his life and ahead lay a bleak future. To add to the matter, he had run out of the 2500 that the onsite supervisor had given him and had literally fled the spot. His children were malnourished with a sore throat and aching feet. His wife was tired and their long futile walk first to the crowded bus stand and then to the railway station had taken a huge toll on her. He knew he couldn't go back to the construction site( the hell hole) where living conditions were unimaginably horrible. Ajmal just knew that since Bihar was his homeland they would somehow feel more secure and he was confident that he would receive better facilities there.

However, when they reached the railway station they were in for a shock as they realized that the TN Government had not yet made any announcement or decision with relation to this. He felt betrayed as if someone had completely snatched away his freedom and his security.....

Bouncing back to reality, more than half a million migrant labourers have left the Indian cities during the month of April alone, desperately trying to get back to their own native places. Monday morning saw around 7000 guest workers protesting and blocking the Maharashtra- MP border. This further led to a clash with police personnel and the situation totally went out of control.

There are about 30,000 tribal people from the Jhabua district of MP stranded in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra who are fighting innumerable odds to get back home as soon as possible.

To add to this let me tell you that around 70,000 migrant tea workers in Assam have been stranded for nearly two months there without ration and wages which were cut from the 24th of March. Through these cherry picked instances I reiterate the point that though their terrible plight has been taken into consideration, it hasn't been given the desired and the needy attention.

Problems that need to be brought to the limelight:

1) Employment : The UN Human Rights Council declared “ domestic solidarity” with India's migrant workers establishing the fact that this indeed a national issue. Closure of MSME'S and reverse migration is infact going to cause a huge blow to employment. According to the CMIE ( Center for monitoring Indian Economy), unemployment rates post lock down would be the highest in TN(49.8%) followed by Jharkhand(47.1%), Bihar(46.6%) and Haryana(43.2%). It is going to be an extremely mundane task to relocate again and more importantly get back their jobs. However we shouldn't be unmindful of the fact that enterprises like these constitute 85% of total employment and 40% of the GDP of the country.

Possible solutions: decentralised reopening of industries and agricultural sectors, provision of a further stimulus for a temporary period, expansion of MGNREGA and focus on skill development.

2) Adverse effect of reverse migration: Most migrants lack basic awareness and knowledge of the virus and this is a problem in itself. Leave aside PPEs' , health kits and essential resources, many are suffering for a morsel food ,clean water and basic shelter. There was an instance where workers were resting on railway platforms showing that they have no security and are highly susceptible to catching several diseases due to their current lifestyle.

Possible solutions: Rather than focusing on registration and provision of health certificates, the Government's first priority should be to arrange temporary accommodation. Migrants should be organised into self help groups and unions to represent their collective interests and make sufficient information available to the Government. I am confident that when we have a concrete idea about their current plight, immediate action can be taken and the necessary changes can be put into place.

India has to take cue from states like Telangana. On May 2nd a secret midnight operation(to ensure there was no crowding and social distancing norms were maintained) was carried out taking 1225 migrants to their native places. Known as “ Shramik special trains" these point- to- point trains have many stops ensuring that several destinations are covered during the course of the journey. To add to this, the Telangana Government further clarified that around 40 such trains would make daily rounds to achieve the same. It kills two birds with a stone: no unnecessary panic for migrants hence ensuring that no one flouts rules citing the urgency to travel as their main reason .

The Government's recent decision to allow the movement of migrants across states is a very late move yet a highly welcome one. The need of the hour is to make sure that analysts put efforts and come up with a framework especially for these migrant labourers to provide some level of compensation and necessary rehabilitation. Many migrants in the north eastern states are also facing racial discrimination due to their resemblance to the Chinese and are being ostracised by the society. So we need to form an army and reassure these people that we are their by their side ready to help them fight their battles. We need to be the support system for these pillars who form the very soul of our country.

Finally I would like to conclude by yet again voicing out the current plight of a migrant labourer:

“ If corona doesn't get me, poverty, discrimination and starvation will".