No work and food, migrants take long walk back home

Migrant labourers at Delhi's Anand Vihar Bus Station trying to reach amid a nationwide lockdown. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)

Caravans of migrant labourers walking hundreds of kilometres along highways and across shuttered cities, running out of food and the nationwide disruption in supply chains have exposed glaring gaps in the implementation of the 21-day Covid-19 lockdown (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha)

Stampede like situation at Delhi's ISBT bus station where migrant workers are waiting to head back home amid a nationwide lockdown (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha)

Migrant labourers going back from Delhi at lal kuan in Ghaziabad (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)

An old man being carried by his sons on a cloth tied firmly to a big wood. The family of migrant workers were coming from Delhi to go to Shrawasti. Speaking to The Indian Express, the family said they started their journey five days back because of the lockdown and only now could get a bus (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)

Migrant labourers going back from ITO bridge at Anand Vihra Bus Adda in Delhi (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)

The Ministry of Home Affairs has urged states to help migrants with food and shelter and prevent their cross-state movement (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)

DTC Buses were plying today to ferry migrant labourers who were stranded without jobs in the national capital (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)

Delhi: Policemen keep vigil as hundreds of migrant labourers head for their homes amid a nationwide lockdown (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)

A migrant worker takes a nap on a rickshaw. The lockdown imposed for 21 days to contain the spread of coronavirus has affected daily wage labourers and workers in the unorganised sector the most (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)

Migrant workers rush to get a seat on a bus at the Charbagh bus stand in Lucknow to reach their villages (Express Photo by Vishal Srivastav)

Migrant labourers, carrying their belongings, walk several hundred kilometers from cities to reach their towns/villages (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)

An official sprays a sanitizer on people before they start their journy on UPSRTC buses at Kaiser Bagh Bus Stand (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)

The Uttar Pradesh government arranged buses for migrant workers from Charbagh to get to their destinations (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)

A crowded bus ferrying migrant labourers to their villages (Express photo by Vishal Sriastav)

A man attempts to climb through the window of the bus to reach his home (Express Photo by Vishal Srivastav)

Homeless people gather for food at Barasat, north 24 pargana (Express photo by Shashi Ghosh)

Migrant labourers going back from Delhi at NH-24 in Ghaziabad. Without jobs and enough food and money, construction workers and labourers are heading back home during the 21-day lockdown (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)

The exodus of out-of-work migrants from Mumbai and Pune going back to their homes in UP and Bihar, complaining of jobs lost and afraid of the pandemic, had begun even before the Janata Curfew on March 22.(Express Photo)

Homeless with no income, migrant labourers going back from Delhi at Gazipur Border on friday after the lockdown. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)

India, as per the 2011 census, records 45.36 crore or 37% of its population as “internal migrants”. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)

Labourers walking to their villages take a nap along the Lucknow-Faizabad highway on Thursday. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)

Opposition parties on Friday mounted pressure on the Centre as well as state governments to step in urgently and help daily-wagers reach their villages or open temporary shelters with adequate supply of food for them. (Express Photo)

State governments have promised assistance in the form of relief camps and medical help. (Express Photo by Vishal Srivastav)

Migrant labourers from Karnataka in Pune who are without any work and devoid of any means to travel back home, are roaming the streets, trying to find accommodation. This pic was taken at Katraj. (Express Photo By Pavan Khengre)

The workers returning on foot — inter-state public transport has been shut down — are facing fear and mistrust along the way and at home.

People stranded at Kalamboli, where the Mumbai-Pune Express Highway begins, took any transportation available to leave Mumbai on Monday. (Express Photo by Narendra Vaskar)

Migrant labourers wait for buses at the Delhi-UP gate in New Delhi on Saturday. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)

Caravans of migrant labourers walking hundreds of kilometres along highways and across shuttered cities, running out of food and the nationwide disruption in supply chains have exposed glaring gaps in the implementation of the 21-day Covid-19 lockdown the Prime Minister announced on March 24 by the Centre and the states.

Hundreds of migrant labourers await their buses at Delhi's ISBT bus station (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha)