Since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, countries
have tended to adopt a protectionist approach to minimize the health risk that
has ensued. However, as we shall discuss below, this protectionism has led to
unintended consequences, and has created multiple new issues in addition to the
health crisis.
One such step of protectionism was taken by
the Modi Government, which imposed a nationwide lockdown from 25th March
onwards, by giving merely a four-hour notice. While the lockdown was
initially envisaged for a three-week duration, it was extended on four
occasions and continued till
8th June, after which a
roadmap was laid down for reopening different sectors of the economy.
This approach of protectionism, which
culminated in a nationwide lockdown, created a new kind of unanticipated crisis
for the migrant workers in the country. As per the 2011 Census, there
were 453.6 Million Indians who were migrants - out of which around 70% were female. Now, since the lockdown was
imposed with only a four-hour notice, the migrant workers could not return to
their hometowns – as transportation services were halted by the Central
Government.
As transportation services had been halted
completely, they were stranded in the cities without any source of employment
and income, and were left estranged from their families. In order to provide
them partial relief, the Central Government belatedly planned to provide them Shramik Special trains from the first week of May - through
which the migrant workers could travel back to their hometowns. The Central Government
in this regard claimed that 85% of the fare for the train service shall be
covered by them. But this was later retracted, and the obligation on paying for the
train services was transferred to the different State Governments.
The ensuing uncertainty resulted in a
situation where migrant workers were asked to pay for their
own train tickets. This was a travesty of justice as the migrant workers were
left stranded and had no access to income solely due to the imposition of the
lockdown, and not for any fault on their part.
While providing transportation services to
migrant workers, the Central Government made the Railways a pawn of harassment,
instead of taking an active role in facilitating free train services. Under the
transportation scheme, it was stated that trains can be supplied only through a
joint
request of both the origin
state and the destination state, which again created multiple coordination issues
between different State Governments.
The migrants were also requested to fill online registration forms to avail transportation facilities. Such
a step was oblivious to prevailing ground realities, where most migrants cannot
manage to afford a smartphone. This forced many migrant workers to walk back to
their hometowns on foot, as they had no other alternative at hand.
As per an estimate, the cost of getting 6.5 crore inter-state
migrants back to their hometowns would have been approximately Rs 4,200 crore. This
amount could have been financed through the PM Cares Fund itself, which was
also not effectively utilized by the Central Government to tackle this
humanitarian crisis.
The Union Home Ministry also assured to establish more than
20,000 relief camps for over 660,000 migrants. However, despite numerous such
promises by the State and Central Governments, many stranded workers were left
without food and shelter, after having lost their primary source of income.
Since most of the workers didn’t have access to regular food, government
officials claimed that a One Nation, One Ration Policy was being put in place.
However, most
of these workers were unaware about the scheme, and the manner in which food
was to be procured under it. Additionally, the Pradhan Mantri Garib
Kalyan Ann Yojana - which aims to provide 5kg of rice or wheat per month to a
family, also faced problems due to non-accessibility of ration cards and
closure of fair price shops. Hence, very
few workers availed of these
food services, and many were left with no source of food.
This apathy of the Government in being
dismissive of the group that forms the backbone of the economy has already made
some migrant workers decide that they shall not return to the cities in
future for work, and shall prefer staying back in their villages. The migrants were
penalized for no fault of theirs, and the Central Government failed to provide
them with any kind of income support for the lockdown period - where most
enterprises were forced to shut down. Even the Supreme Court failed
to hold the Central Government accountable for this – and merely stated that
the workers and the employers may ‘negotiate’ the extent of wages to be paid
for the lockdown period.
On 20th June, the Prime Minister launched the
“Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan” to create jobs for at least 25,000 migrant
workers in 116 districts across States such as Bihar, which saw the return of a
large segment of migrants. This program intends to develop rural areas that
have been affected by reverse migration. Along with this, the Garib Kalyan Ann
Yojana, which aimed to provide free food rations, has
been extended till November.
While we await the outcome of these belated
measures, there can be no justification for the Central Government’s failure to
anticipate the migrant workers’ crisis, and provide them with immediate food
and income support. The images and
videos of migrant workers walking thousands of kilometers to reach their hometowns
shall continue to haunt us for the years to come.
While we look to flatten our Covid-19 curve, let
us remember that the sufferings of the working class is another curve that
should be flattened on priority.
No comments:
Post a Comment