Gujarat: Don’t need other jobs, want to go home, say migrant workers

Tiwari’s 22-year-old daughter was to be married on April 26, however, the unexpected outbreak of COVID-19 has left him distressed. “I haven’t been home in two years. I had a well-paying job and was saving money for her wedding. But here I am, like a murderer is locked up in prison, being forced to eat half-cooked meals. I want to go home,” he bellows at one of the eight policemen manning the compound gates.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Sunday released a protocol for stranded migrants, stating that while they cannot move out of the state they are currently in, they “should be registered with the local authority concerned and their skill mapping be carried out to find out their suitability for various kinds of works.”

The workers, however, say they don’t want other jobs. Rahul Mishra (22) from Azamgadh says, “I was in Hazira and I don’t know any other work except driving. What will I do at a construction site?”

“We are hungry, homesick and worried. Does the government think we will not get coronavirus in this shelter? How are we safe? The doctors have come only twice since March 30, when we were first brought here, and couldn’t even check all of us. I don’t intend to take up any job here. Will they force us to work like they do with prisoners in jails?” says Suraj Yadav (24) from Dariagunj.

Mohammad Sarafuddin (28) from Mau has a family of five who rely on his earnings. He says, “They have stopped giving us tea for the last two days…they said they had run out of money. Is that why they are asking us to work, so we fend for ourselves in a city we don’t even know? Why can’t they arrange buses and send us home? Such a big government cannot do this much for the poor?”

VMC Commissioner Nalin Upadhyay said that the nodal officer for labour has been asked to check with employers of these labourers and verify if they have been permitted to resume operations. “If the employers have resumed operations after the partial exit from the lockdown, we will follow the MHA protocol and arrange buses with adequate social distancing to send them. We do understand the labourers’ state of mind, it is a difficult time and they are naturally worried. We are trying our best to keep them relaxed.” He denied the complaints about food, stating that the meals are now being handled by the police department.