The Narendra Modi government’s lack of concern for millions of suffering migrant workers continues to be on display. On Tuesday, soon after the Prime Minister announced extension of the lockdown, thousands of migrant workers gathered outside Mumbai’s Bandra railway station to demand resumption of train services. It is distressing that the police responded to their frantic appeals by beating them with lathis. Similar incidents have been reported from other cities like Pune and Surat. More such protests can be expected in the coming weeks if the government’s uncaring attitude towards migrants persists. Three weeks ago, when Modi announced the nation-wide lockdown with just four hours’ notice, millions of migrants working in our cities, rendered jobless and without food and shelter overnight, set out on foot and in overcrowded vehicles to return home to their villages. Then, as now, the police response was heavy-handed; migrants were thrashed at state borders. We are now watching a horrifying replay of those scenes of desperation. The Modi government had not thought through the impact of the lockdown on daily wage earners then, and it has not cared to do so three weeks down the line. Is beating up the poor and migrant workers the government’s standard response to their anxieties?
The migrant workers in Mumbai expected to be able to go home after April 14. After all, the Indian Railways had been accepting bookings. Fuelling their hopes were reports by a television news channel that outstation train services were being resumed. When train services were not resumed, their hopes were dashed. Realising that they would continue to be stuck without jobs, food or an exit from their precarious situation, they violated social distancing rules to crowd at the station.
Surely this could have been avoided. Over the past fortnight, some state governments have taken steps to provide food for migrants. However, the demand has far outstripped supply of basic necessities. Understandably, those migrant workers prefer to go back to their villages where they would at least have a roof over their head. Many of them have walked back or have been provided bus transport by state governments to reach home. Those from distant villages do not have that option. It is they who are out on the streets now appealing for resumption of train services. This is not impossible to provide. After screening them for coronavirus infections, they should be allowed to travel back in well-sanitised trains or buses. Their orderly exit could have been implemented over the past fortnight. It was not, but it is still not too late. They must be enabled to go home.