The\npandemic COVID 19 has forced us to reflect whether democracies across the world\ncould deliver basic public goods like health, education and law and order etc.\nThe health scenario is quite clear, we knew how many beds, ventilators and\ndoctors etc. we have per million population. These basic facts evaluating the\nstatus of health sector are quite discussed in print and television quite\nvividly because each fact is critical to save a live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nlockdown has further demonstrated that the governance structures of democracy\nquite often legitimise use of violence against poor. Therefore, the ever-migrating cohorts of\nIndian citizens are now reduced to migrant labourers stuck in different cities\nwithout having even work or food supplies. It is quite astonishing how quickly\nmedia narrative changed over time. We must remember when AAP government won in\nthe month Feb 2020, most of the \u201cgodi media\u201d identified it as a result of\nfreebies and criticised it. Almost a year before that in May 2019, media also\nquestioned Congress Party for proposed NYAY scheme. At that time the slogans of\n\u201cmoney without dignity\u201d were shouted as part of daily news on our television.\nNow, the same value laden slogans do not resonate with media when millions of\nmigrant labourers wants to go back to their native place to have dignified\nmeals even though government promised and failed miserably to provide adequate\nfree food and other essential supplies in most economically and socially\ndisadvantage populations of major cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s\npark the right of any citizen to having a dignified meal. Let us try to\nunderstand the reasons why migrant labourer would like to move to their native\nplace even if promised free food several times. In my opinion the real answer\nlies in \u201ctrust\u201d. When either Prime Minister or any Chief Minister of state\nannounces to take adequate measures for direct cash transfer and food, the\nquestion of \u201chow\u201d and \u201cwhen\u201d created a trust deficit<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ntrust deficit is just not created by the lack of resources, planning and\nexecution by PMO office, but the home and visiting states of these migrant\npopulation have also failed them. The state governments of UP, Bihar, M.P and\nOrissa having large migrants\u2019 number in the cities like Mumbai & Delhi did\nnot collaborate with counterpart governments in other states like Delhi,\nMaharashtra, Andhra Pradesh to take care of its people. Most of them appealed\nto these labourers \u201cStay where you are\u201d & \u201cStay Put\u201d. Some of them of them\nlistened to these appeals and waited, but a major section did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some\nof us can argue, why raise this question now when the government is doing\neverything in their capacity to save and serve in this situation of\ncrisis. The central government has\nalready started the special trains for transporting them. My question are a)\nAre we seeing it or assuming it? & b) Is it helping the migrants, or\ncreating more misery to it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Firstly,\nwhy did the government take such a long time to prepare for transportation then\nwhy are they charging the most marginalised vulnerable section? Where does lack\nof communication between central ministries and state government push these\nmigrants? We know for the fact that last month, railways kept its ticket\nbooking counter open and falsely raised hopes of thousands of people who were\nhopeful that they had a chance of returning back home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Secondly,\nthe real beneficiaries of the assertion \u201cthat government is doing the best it\ncould\u201d are also the middle class. It\u2019s\nour relatives and children who were transported back from different countries,\nit\u2019s our proximate neighbour and friends who took the first flights and trains\nwhen they saw this coming. It\u2019s our children who were transported back to their\nrespective cities from Kota whether I am in Chhattisgarh or you are in Delhi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So\nfar we have heard and believed \u201cif something is demanded in large number makes\nit indispensable in democracy\u201d. Nothing can be more wrong in the context of migrant\u2019s\nlabourers in this situation. Even though the large number of people started\nwalking from mega cities on road, the governments\u2019 lack of empathy was quite\nevident. Pictures of people walking with all the goods they own heaped to their\ncycles and in most cases to their bodies does not alarm anyone. That perhaps\nexplains why a person could consider this as very best option?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nrespective government could afford to transport student back because of many\nreasons. First, there is a lower number of students as compared to migrant\nlabourer. Second, the students could be quarantined if needed in small numbers\nin government aided facilities or their home having respective facilities. The\nthird reason is shear dispensability of migrant labourer in electoral calculus\nof democracy. The class, voice and voting power of students\u2019 or their parents\u2019\nis any day higher to millions of migrants who cannot afford to have next day\nmeal in their cities without work. They are not likely to travel back to their\nnative state when next time Nitish Kumar, Naveen Patnaik or Yogi Adityanath\nwill fight election. (The three CMs are named for sake of argument but all CMs\nare collectively responsible for their state migrant labourer equally).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ncurrent crisis is therefore not just a resource crisis, but also a crisis of\ntrust in governance. It is about who are treated as a citizen and who is not in\nthe country. It is also a question whether our democracy serves the poor who\nneed more support than a privilege person like me? If as a poor, I am stuck in\ncity whom should I approach and how? What are the means under my disposal when\nit comes to emergencies like these in my own country? <\/p>\n\n\n\n A brief conversation with a migrant worker\nfrom West Bengal who is doing floor and tiling work for my house being\nconstructed in Raipur brings these issues vividly to life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Me:\nEveryone is going home; you are not planning to go home?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bhaiya:\nNo, I came here for work, so I will stay back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me:\nBut now you do not have work, how you will survive? Do you have money? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bhaiya:\nWe are 27 people who have come here together, the day we are out of money and\nwill have no work, and no possibility of work, then we will see. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Me:\nThen it will be more difficult, because you will lose out money, how you will\ntravel back?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bhaiya:\nIs it easier now? You think we have option? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Me:\n\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026after some time, Bhaiya, if people have no money why they are going\nhome? How they will survive?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bhaiya:\nMost of them will either die or will be so weak that it will take months to\nrecover. But at least, they will be sick in their village where they are known,\nnot reduced to migrant or number. They will have less food, but they don\u2019t have\nto worry about buying water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Me:\nSmiled silently\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each\nword of his reminded me of my privileges. His last word reminded me\nenvironmentalist Vandana Shiva\u2019 analogy of defining class by counting the\nnumber of running water taps in a household, the taps that are now being touted\nas a frontline strategy in protection against this pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The lockdown has further demonstrated that the governance structures of democracy quite often legitimise use of violence against poor. Therefore, the ever-migrating cohorts of Indian citizens are now reduced to migrant labourers stuck in different cities without having even work or food supplies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":128264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,92],"tags":[285,301],"class_list":["post-128263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indian-economy","category-social","tag-covid-19","tag-migrant-workers"],"yoast_head":"\n