The plight of the Migrants

Sad is the plight of the migrant workers who have left their villages and districts to migrate towards metro cities in search of livelihood and to chase a dream of a tremendous luxurious life.

The dream stays just that – a dream – and the migrant manages to eek in two meager meals a day while somehow surviving beneath bridges or in shantytowns or hutment areas. Most times, he sustains himself on daily wages and gets paid only for those days when he works.

The onset and subsequent rage of Covid-19 made even that flimsy bubble of an urban life burst. With life screeching to a halt due to various phased Lockdowns, the migrant was left stranded in an unfriendly city, without food, without income, and without shelter. That does not mean the virus will spare him. He is as much in the fight for life as anyone else.

So what does he do? He makes his way towards his village or instead tries to. That is not easy because the borders within states have been sealed, and there is anyways no transport available – public or private. They set out on foot from various parts of the country. The Government administration seems to have withdrawn, or what they are doing is just not enough. Added to that is the risk and stigma of carrying the virus home to infect others. It is already being said that “COVID-19 cases rise in India as migrant workers return home from cities”. According to experts, a whopping 3 million migrant workers have traveled from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh towards different parts of the country. Their return home is leading to an ominous rise in Covid -19 cases.

When these same numbers or near to hear numbers return to their home states, and already limping healthcare system is sure going to have a tough time.

Social, economic, housing, and survival are among the many battles these workers have to fight. Alarmingly, in Bihar, as recently as Monday, when 835 of these migrant workers were tested for Covid on their return home, one out of every four was found infected with Covid-19.

Special trains have been run to help the migrants get home since early May, but multitudes continue to stay stranded.

The Blame Game is rampant. The state may blame the center, and the center may blame someone else, but that doesn’t lessen the ache of the poor migrant worker whose lot is pitiable.

One shudders to think what would happen if the worst fears will be confirmed and when the Covid Cases will peak in July – August.

Vested interests with political motives are fueling unrest, anger, and hatred among the migrants, but at the end of the day, the worst sufferer is the poor migrant who will be fighting a battle on many fronts.

A virus hit the economy, an impoverished treasury, a beleaguered administration, a politics are ridden bureaucracy, and a limping infrastructure are hardly the right ingredients to dish out solutions for the poor migrant workers.