COVID-19 has hit almost every sector and industry, and every individual has been impacted by it in some or the other way. But, there is no debate that nobody has borne the brunt of the pandemic more than the low-income groups, the migrants, the daily wage workers. Removed from their workplaces, the very metropolises whose foundation can be credited to their work, are stuck in middle on the way to their homes, have either reached their destination or it’s still a faraway dream for them.
It’s been more than a month since the epidemic took over India, and with time, we have found ways to cope with the living nightmare in our own ways. From fixing up ‘Dalgona coffee’ and baked goods, sharing fitness routines, videos with dressing up or makeovers challenges are just few of the many ways that have kept our spirits up while dealing with the ongoing situation.
But not all can afford the luxury to remain unperturbed. I came across news reports of a 12-year-old passing away, just short of 11 kilometres from her house in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur, after walking a distance of 100 kilometres from Telangana. The little kid, who was on foot for three days, was dehydrated and died due to exhaustion-related illness. Take a moment to wonder what would have driven a child to take such a step.
Not The ‘Social Distancing’ We Were Asked To Practice
The Chhattisgarh case is one of the many that has made headlines in the wake of COVID-19, showing a mirror to the social disparity that largely grips the everyday life of an Indian, one we choose to ignore.
It all started with the nationwide-lockdown that was announced on March 24, 2020. As soon as the Prime Minister made an appeal to prepare for tougher times and act with patience and sensibility, the affluent ones made a run to hoard as much as they can off the shop counters, while the marginalised remained stripped of information, the threat of what lay ahead for them.
On March 30, 2020, around 10,000 people, mostly from the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, among others thronged Delhi’s Anand Vihar bus station in hopes of travelling to their native places. In spite of knowing that the lockdown was in place, what drove them to helplessly seek support from transport can only be concluded as helplessness and panic.
Sole breadwinners of families, clutching on the last ray of hope, were on the way to their native places, a place where they would at least have a morsel to eat. But, two things were common in all these stories of migrants workers’ long walk: one, they were very intimidated by prospects of an uncertain future; second, they wanted to see their families or hometowns for the last time (at the cost of death).
From a delivery man working in Delhi, who expired just 100 kilometres away from his way home in a village of Madhya Pradesh, to a migrant painter from Bihar, who died by suicide in Gurgaon after endowing his family with ₹2,500, all these stories were marked by making one last attempt to have security.
One might ‘accuse’ the vulnerable of jeopardising the situation by not practicing social distancing and moving across state borders. But how were they any different from the rest of us who scrammed out of the cities we work in, to our native places, paying up double amount for our flights (airways being the fastest possible way) and reach our safe havens?
Unlike you and I, who have the luxury of accessing online news updates with a swipe of a finger, the marginalised and vulnerable live in a constant state of lack of information. The news of a pandemic breaking was enough to bring their life to a standstill as they knew their business and income will get affected. But what they were never explained was the way to deal with the issue.
Lest We Forget!
The case of the 12-year-old, unfortunately, and forgive me for saying this, will not be the last of its kind. With the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Oxfam predicting the financial crisis, unemployment, and a rise in poverty post the pandemic, there will be several such casualties which will be an outcome of the socio-economic distress this pandemic is causing.
But, since these cases are not directly related to the COVID-19 disease, such stories might not be recorded. The names of the fatalities will not be mentioned in press conferences, remembered in news debates or used for electoral gains by politicians. Their stories will be lost and the real plight of migrant workers, proper discussions on the nature of their contracts, payrolls and the insurance they deserve from their workplaces will get lost in the race.
For the longest time, the story of the 12-year-old might not be heard as there are more communally charged, ‘exciting’ headlines on the fray for primetime news programs to discuss and display. But, if a child has to work to feed her family, as a migrant in a different state, and being forced to choose to walk lengths to feel safe at a time of a pandemic, I think it’s enough to give us sleepless nights.