Migrant Workers – The Most Shamefull Episode of Pandemic
May 19, 2020 – 4 Migrant workers are killed in a road
accident at Yavatmal of
Maharashtra (
www.thehindusthantimes.com ) ;
May 16, 2020 – 24 Migrant Workers killed, 36 injured
as two trucks collided in the
early hours
on the high road of Auraiya District of
Uttar Pradesh ;
May , 16, 2020 -
8 Migrant Workers, including 4
women died in three separate road
accidents in
Mdhya Pradesh, while trying to
reach their homes in
These series of accidents, one after another, during
nearly the last two months, have stunned us, broken our hearts and have left us helpless, speechless, only to remain looking forward and
count how many accidents are still to
occur in near future ;
Who are these
Migrant Workers ?
They are mainly the unskilled, casual
workers who move from the less developed Eastern States to the developed Southern & Western states of India ; This happens each
year, on seasonal basis, mainly due to
the uneven development of economy in our country ; They are collected, gathered
and supplied to the various
Employers of the comparative developed States through a network of Agents & Contractors spread over a vast area of the underdeveloped States of the Eastern India ;
The Shameful Episode Begins :
·
On March 24, 2020 the Central Government,
by a unilateral decision
imposed a nationwide lock down on just a four-hour
notice which left the migrant workers high and dry in the first place ;
·
The inhumane action on part of the
selfish, irresponsible industrialists
who so far, had utilized these workers
to build up their Assets & productions immediately
retrenched these workers without
paying their due wages even for the month of March,2020 ; The selfish, cunning & cruel
agents & labour contractors who had collected, gathered and brought these workers from various remote, distant
rural corners of India and handed them to the various industrialists
only to make their own profit, did
nothing ! They simply just vanished from the scene leaving these
poor, helpless, penniless and shelter
less migrant workers into a big chaos on
the street ! And therefore, very
justifiably, I repeat, very justifiably, these poor migrant workers, seeing no chances
of immediate withdrawal of the lock down or opening of their workplace, wanted
and tried to return to their native places situated at various
much distant places ;
·
What Did the Governments Do ?
They, in fact, did not bother for the problem ! The Central Governments,
as for example, spent a lot to bring back the rich citizens and students from the overseas countries free of cost but what
a surprise ! They did not care to solve
the problems of the poor migrant workers
either by pressurizing the State Governments to
provide them with food and
shelters or by arranging for sufficient trains to ferry the stranded
workers to their native places at
the initial period of the lock down ! Only, when criticism cropped up from
various quarters and
groups of the country, the Central Government ultimately had to move and after about a long forty days they arranged for ‘Sramik Special Trains’
to ferry the stranded migrant workers
only from first week of May ;
·
The host State Governments, where these
workers were employed, neither pressurized the respective
industrialists to provide the workers with food, shelter and due wages nor they
themselves (barring only a very few)
provide them with food & shelters ! Some of these
State Governments, like Maharashtra, behaved brutally
by applying Police Force upon the
thousands of stranded workers when they demanded only for food !
Even, when, much later, ‘Shramik
Special’ trains were arranged by the
Central Govt. these host States, guided by vested interests, did not show much interest in ferrying the migrant workers to their
native places ; In this respect, we are
stunned by the mischievous act by the Karnataka Govt. against these poor migrant workers ! On 6th May, this State, after a
meeting with the
local Builders and Promoters,
applied to Central Govt. to
cancel all ‘Shramik Special’ trains scheduled to depart from Bengaluru !
They very much knew what this workers wanted vigorously, only to return to their home ! (www.timesofindia.com –
6th May, 2020)
·
The States of the Eastern India were
not also eager to return these migrant
workers to their respective States
mainly for two reasons ; Firstly , they did not want to be over burdened with any
extra liability, secondly,
for fear of Corona Virus contamination
;
However, What We
Saw Eventually ?
Being desperate by the inaction of the Central
Government and mostly owing to the selfish,
cruel and inimical behavior of
most of Employers, the Contractors/Agents and also the
host State Governments, the
migrant workers, thousands of them , millions of them, started walking ! Walking to their
homes ; They walked day &
night along the roads, high roads,
railway tracks ; They walked on
and on miles after miles ; Hundreds of miles, thousands of miles ;
Accidents did occur but the fear of that could not stop them ; The so
called ‘urban educated persons’ like us will not be able to gauge their mental stamina
; It appears that if anyone placed The
Mount Himalayas as obstruction on
their way, they would have uprooted
the same also and would continue
to walk on and on ! Alas ! They do not
even actually know how far to walk to reach their final destination !!
However, it may be assumed that once the
ugly faces of the selfish Employers
are open to the migrant workers
they would not return to their Employers next time ; Hence, these selfish Employers deserve the sufferings from the shortage of
workers next time ! What is your opinion ? They deserve it or not ?
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