Sad Affair of Long Marches

It may be in the best of interests when the PM asked everyone to stay put in their respective locations when the lockdown was declared. But, things had gone astray ever since. Especially that of the stranded migrant workers. While the rich had the privilege to fly back on the last day, it is always the poor and underprivileged who bears the wrath of any difficult measures being taken in the country. The recent decision by the central govt. advising the state governments to take necessary measures to transit the migrant workers shall be commended only for being better late than never. Labor ministry sources indicate there could be as many as 2 million migrant workers in the country. The government should have been more sensitive in dealing with a crisis of this magnitude. At least 25 people have died walking hundreds of km in the last one month alone. While some were lucky enough to have made it to their villages, the sight of people walking all the way in highways with constantly deteriorating health conditions shakes the conscience of the nation. Also, we see women not able to make it to the hospital and delivering their babies on the road. Needless to say, most of them are migrant workers. In the name of handling a medical emergency, it is only that we are creating more unhealthy situations as a new norm, which does not sit well with a country boasting to have handled the ongoing crisis far superior than its western counterparts. The widespread protests that happened in several parts of the country especially in Delhi, UP, and Gujarat stand testament to how severe the problem is and how the government kept ignoring them for 40 long days. While it may not have been a solution to have offered the migrant workers to return to their places when the lockdown was initiated, which definitely would have put the very purpose of containing the virus in jeopardy, what must have been done is coming up with a roadmap to deal with it in the near future. Which in turn would have assured the migrants of a safe and secure transit keeping them from braving crossing states by foot. However, letting bygones be bygones, which sure is easy to say, the recent development too doesn’t seem like a possible solution. With only 3 days to go for the lockdown to end, it is still a mystery on how quick the respective state governments will put their foot down and start the process. Already few states have distanced itself saying such long distances cannot be covered by road and only by trains which come under the central. When the lockdown is relaxed, it is most likely major cities will be sealed off even if the economic activities resume. In that case, how are the workers expected to return to their work? It is as if it is not enough that they have already been ripped off of their livelihood, but, also frustrated emotionally. This week 3 workers from Rajasthan walked 820kms to reach their village only to be rammed by a truck just a km away from their destination. We can only hope this does not become a metaphorical situation for all the migrant workers trying to return home just for peace.