Migrant workers in India 2020
Industries are luring migrant workers with promises of advance wages, free travel tickets, free accommodation and medical insurance and check ups if they return to the jobs. The same companies, which had totally forgotten about migrants when they needed food and shelter,are wooing them with new promises.
Migrant workers in India 2020
Companies may be facing huge labourer crisis and hiring local workers from industries other than their own on comparatively higher rates and facilities. But the most important question here is that will migrant labourers come back? Less than two months back, they had to leave cities. Because no industry came in their support with two-time meal and a shelter house.
These industrialists were so ignorant that it seemed they would have no need of migrant labourers. Maybe they thought, local workers would be able to replace migrants after lockdown. But nothing worked out, neither for companies in big cities nor for labourers in small towns. Companies need workers to bridge their increasing backlog due to the Covid lockdown.
Migrant labourers, who usually take up seasonal work in cities, get back home to do agricultural activities in other times. Due to coronavirus lockdown, things got so much changed that life came as a total shock. And now, migrants need employment as they are getting neither work nor money nor food in their hometowns and villages, contrary to their earlier expectations.
Migrants in their own country
Centre ignored the migrant labourers and states used them in their own politics. The lockdown disrupted employment prospects in the big cities and labourers moved towards hometowns and villages. Some state governments claimed that they would arrange work and food for them in their own state only. And the states said, migrants would not need to go to other states for work.
Other states also announced that if migrants want to come back to work in big cities, they will need approvals from respective authorities. However, migrant labourers rarely got work in their home states. Due to not living in villages for a long time now, their names from ration cards already cut out. So, they were not eligible to get even ration in their own villages.
No work, no money, no food is forcing them to go back to the cities, which are again luring them with new perks. Big cities are witnessing return of some of the migrant labourers, who had left for their homes during coronavirus lockdown. They alleged that they were not getting any food, enough food or proper food and shelter. Their need for employment is getting them back in the cities.
Migrant workers in India: Scared to return
The returning migrant workers are very less in number. Only 10% have returned to cities so far and most of migrant workers are still scared to get back to work. Despite goodies offered by the companies, migrants are not able to forget the worst nightmare of their life happened during the Covid lockdown. Still, a few migrants are giving one more chance to their fate once again by returning.
Most of the migrant workers are hesitant to return as they cannot forget the scenes of hunger, thirst, long walks, pain of teargas and lathi-charge (baton-charge), when they moved towards their hometowns. They rather want to be home as it’s still the safest zone than to go to the rude cities with possibilities of all that happening once again. It could be quite more painful than the last one.
This episode may be over but story continues. And it will continue until the country will be able to arrange food, cloth, shelter, medication, education and employment for the most vulnerable citizens and communities. A big political will is in need to do their best for the lowest of socio-economic background. Without that the poor will remain just a vote bank of the powerful in the country.
Conclusion
Till then many such episodes will be telecast and re-telecast to show real picture of a developing country, that’s India. Data could be polished to prove that we are already seeing green shoots of economic recovery. Real picture will say the truth and deny all such articulated claims. Politics will keep changing facts and figures as per their convenience. But it will not want to change the reality of the people.
