'Send us back home': Stranded migrant workers in Delhi

"Send us back home" – exasperated migrant workers holed up in dingy rooms in south Delhi's Khirki village, which is just a stone throw away from a complex that houses the capital's three busy malls, say. The migrant workers have been battling through the unclean narrow bylanes, limited food supply and policemen who do not allow them to step out even to buy essential items.

Same is the chorus from Old Delhi's Chandni Chowk, where around 50 construction workers from West Bengal's North Dinajpur who have come to the capital for work a fortnight ago besides others, and north Delhi's Bawana where a large number of migrant workers and vulnerable sections find a roof over their heads, as they battle hunger and anxiety about future following the 21-day national lock-down due to COVID-19.

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At least 7-10 people stay in a single room, in some cases up to 15, in most of these places defeating the whole purpose of the concept of social distancing propagated to fight Covid-19 while reaching schools earmarked by Delhi government for distribution of food packets remain a herculean task.

At a time the country is witnessing a massive exodus of migrant workers from cities to the villages from across the country, hundreds of them are still staying in the capital while several others on way to Delhi borders were being sent back by police. Rickshaw pullers, construction workers, hawkers and domestic help who have left their villages for Delhi to earn money for their existence now stare at an uncertain future.

Three days ago, Yakub Ali and his colleagues – around 50 construction workers from North Dinajpur who reached Delhi around March 15 for work and presently stranded here – explained their ordeal in a video they shared on WhatsApp. "What will we eat? Make some arrangement for us to go home now. What will we live on? At our homes, they are crying. We are also crying here a lot. If we die here, what will happen to our children, our parents?" they said in the video.

Ali told DH on Saturday, "Somehow, help us to reach our home. We don't have money for food. And where will we stay? We had attempted to go home before the lock-down but we could not catch a train." At present, they are staying in Chandni Chowk and have got some food, thanks to the efforts of Delhi unit of CITU, but the workers fear worse times are in for store.

Like Ali, Tarannum in Bawana and Sajid Alam in Khirki Village too complained that they cannot go out to buy essential items or reach the schools assigned for distributing food. "We cannot step out. Police do not allow us to go to the school where food is distributed. Also, the school is a bit far away," says Tarannum, who works with an NGO for a meagre salary of Rs 9,000 that supports a family of seven, including her 75-year-old father and her three children.

"How can my 75-year-old father walk that long to get food? We do not have any amenities. The government should have taken care of this situation which they are not," she said.

In Khirki Village, around 2,000 migrant workers are there and 7-10 people are staying in one room with volunteers working in the area saying that most of them have no food and money and want to home, as Alam said. "We are trying to provide them food. We got food packets from the local MLA to be distributed here but it is not at all sufficient," said Farooque Siddique, a volunteer," told DH.

The biggest problem, the labourers in the area said, is accessibility for food as one of the schools which is distributing food is in the posh locality. "There is a municipal school nearby. They have opened it in Malaviya Nagar market area. Even if they try to go there, police will not allow to reach there. Some of us have tried but we were not allowed to walk," he said.

Farooqui told DH, "the situation in which these workers are staying defeats the very purpose of social distancing. The government should allow schools to be open for these workers to stay. They have so many rooms."

Amid complaints of food packets not reaching all those who need it, activists demand that more schools need to be identified for distribution. Some activists also speak about the complete absence of local political leaders at ground level, who could have put pressure on authorities.

CITU National Secretary A R Sindhu told DH, "the government should have some mechanism where it can provide ration for families irrespective of whether they have ration cards. You can have some identification at local level. This will be more effective in reaching out to migrant workers and other vulnerable sections than the food distribution centres, where many people complain that they cannot reach."

Sharing similar concerns, National Federation of Indian Women General Secretary Annie Raja said migrant workers are facing trouble with their house-owners, who are asking them vacate fearing spread of COVID-19. "Nobody is helping them. No authorities are reaching out to them. They feel it is better that they leave Delhi and reach their home somehow, even walking hundreds of kilometres," she told DH.

On Saturday, hundreds of migrant workers were seen at Anand Vihar Bus Terminal in East Delhi waiting for buses to head home. Earlier in the day, crowds were also seen at Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, as the UP government arranged buses for migrant workers to reach their villages.

"Several migrant workers are walking long distances. At least, the Delhi government could use its buses to transport these workers to the border," Raja said.

Some rickshaw pullers who were on their way home were turned back by police at Akshardham in east Delhi. One of the rickshaw pullers Paanchu Mandal, who was going to West Bengal on his rickshaw along with another rickshaw puller, was quoted by ANI as saying, "I was going to West Bengal. Police have turned us back, they say we'll be sent on a bus. We're 2 drivers, we would've taken turns to pull the rickshaw & reach WB. It would've taken us 7 days to reach. We are not getting any work here, don't get passengers any more."