Amid Lockdown, Labourers In Gujarat Forced To Walk All The Way To Rajasthan With A Mere Rs 500

For thousands of migrant labourers in India, the nationwide lockdown in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, has brought their lives to a standstill. They continue to be on the move, desperate get back to their homes.

Amid the lockdown, close to a thousand labourers working in Ahmedabad were forced to walk back to their native town in Rajasthan. According to a TOI report, their owners handed them a mere Rs 500 and asked them to leave.

Along with their children and whatever few belongings they had, these labourers were seen walking the highway in Sabarkantha district and they were completely exhausted owning to the blistering heat.

These people found it hard even to get a sip of water as all the hotels along the way were shut, states the report.

¡°I was working in Ranip area of Ahmedabad and my employer asked me to leave. He gave me bus fare, but all public transport is closed so we were forced to walk back to our villages,¡± said Tejabhai, a labourer from Rajasthan.

Luckily, cops posted in Sabarkantha spotted these individuals and immediately arranged food for them. Taking note of the incident Chaitanya Mandlik, Sabarkantha's superintendent of police said that transport will be arranged for these labourers to safely reach their native towns.

Mandlik also informed they have arranged for food and water for the duration of time they take to reach home and have also understood the state of panic they must be in given the current situation.

Did the government think about all the people who would get stranded this way with little money and no means to reach their homes? The govt must immediately look into this and help people who are now stranded with no means to go homes. @HemantSorenJMM @DC_Ranchi pic.twitter.com/gNKiagsDso

¡ª Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (@JharkhandJanad1) March 23, 2020

As India goes into lockdown, migrant workers without protections are desperately trying to return home. According to a Live Mint report, millions are trying to flee the big cities where the first cases were reported and return to smaller towns and villages in packed public transport.

Reuters

The lockdown has come heavily on those involved in the gig economy which, according to the Live Mint, constitutes nearly 90% of the country¡¯s workforce. From those working in restaurants to those making a living by ironing clothes in the neighbourhood, daily wagers are finding it difficult to make ends meet.

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¡ª Mukesh singh sengar ????? ???? ????? (@mukeshmukeshs) March 24, 2020

A native of Darbhanga in Bihar, Mukhiya works at an under construction building in suburban Kalina.

"I have not been paid in the last couple of days, as the work has come to a standstill at the site. My labour contractor has been providing me some essentials, helping me survive without money," PTI quotes him as saying.

"We have been borrowing money to survive. We want the government to at least help us get to our hometowns," another daily-wage labourer told PTI.

The lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi means that these people have zero prospect of income for the next three weeks.