HomeNationMigrants take to the road, want to die with their family instead...

Migrants take to the road, want to die with their family instead living in fear of Coronavirus

Third phase of lockdown has evaporated all hope of city revival plan by Thackeray Govt, forcing thousand migrants flee to their state. Sudden lockdown due to COVID-19, made them understand that they have to be self-reliant

Mumbai: The Mumbai -Nashik highway is crowded with people on foot, cycles,  tempos, auto-rickshaws ,trucks and even inside the containers people have dumped themselves just to flee from Maharashtra to their home states. All the possible routes and bypass routes are attempted by migrants to leave the state in the ongoing third phase of lockdown.

Traffic snarls in the Kasara ghat have become an unusual norm as thousands of migrant labourers are on foot walking making their way between the vehicles filled up with migrants. The pain of their attempts to flee from the situation is seen on the faces of these migrants. Their worst fear is of hunger and death by COVID-19 when they are thousand miles away from their families.

“Ghar par pahunch jaau bus corona maar daale to bhi chale (I should just reach my home after that even if corona will kill it is okay), said Shiva Vishawakarma. His eyes light up when he talks about his family back home.

The migrant exodus has choked Mulund-Thane Check Naka (entry-exit points of Mumbai) immediately after the announcement of third phase of the lockdown. Shiva is a carpenter and resides in Asalpha village at Ghatkopar. He had a small bag in his hand was hiding in the bushes near Mulund-Thane Toll Naka.

After hours of waiting his group members came out from bushes to see whether the police personnel are still keeping an eye to the migrants fleeing from this Check Naka. He signals and one by one around 15-20 come out from the bushes near Nallah and smuggle themselves slowly and slowly towards Thane.

Shiva has been walking on foot to his destination Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. They know that it is 1400-1500 km from Mumbai by train. This lockdown has made them self-reliant. They may reach in several days if they walk. Shiva has counted 35km a day person can walk and he may reach his native place in a month. After crossing Mumbai city limits migrants are sure to arrange some or the other saadhan (vehicle). The migrants in UP do not have vehicles available in rural areas.

Why migrants started fleeing?

The first phase of lockdown to curb the spreading of coronavirus was strictly followed by the migrant workers. After the first 21 days of the lockdown got over Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced extension of lockdown across the country.


Migrant crisis erupted all of a sudden near Bandra railway station last month and then Uddhav Thackeray’s government realized that migrant workers cannot be held back in the city. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra in his messages was repeatedly assuring the migrants that they are safe and secure in the city and he has arranged shelter-homes for them.

Thackeray attempted conveying his message in Hindi so as these thousands and thousands migrants trust him and do not move out under lockdown. In his speech Thackeray stated that the Central government has agreed to give additional pulses along with regular dal and rice.

Ashok Kumar Vishwas, a migrant worker from Uttar Pradesh has a different experience. He said,” I walked in Nallah to flee from Santacruz. I had only once received 2 Kg of Rice and 1 Kg of Pulses. Has anyone thought how much is needed per person to fulfill ones hunger? “

Ashok Kumar Vishwas

They have a strong opinion on both Central as well as State government. They are have reached to the stage wherein they do not want anything from any government. They feel that the sudden lockdown amids of the coronavirus not halted the work but has also lockdown their lives in city.

Food supply and Migrants:

In March Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had under the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana announced free distribution of 5 Kg food grains per person and 1 Kg of pulses per household for three months. This was done under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) to ensure availability of food to poor people. The scheme looked very well planned as beneficiaries would get this on ration cards however Chandana Das hailing from West Bengal did not receive anything under it. Chandana approached the local corporator as she works as domestic help and was in need of food grains. “You are not eligible, this is what my area corporator told me”, she said.

The unskilled workers are paid wages either monthly or even weekly. They need food supply to remain under lockdown and she too like others fled from Mumbai. The migrants faced several issues, if they did get the food grains then there was the question of how would they cook it as the gas cylinder was not available in MRP price for them. The black marketing business booms in disaster relief efforts. The kerosene is available at sky high prices for them.

The discrimination in food distribution was the main factor for exodus of migrants in city .The restlessness of not having ration card and lack of supply of ready -food to the others was taken as discrimination.

Migrant workers and the Act 1979:
Migrants labourers form the large chunk of India’s vast unorganized labour force sector.
Seasonal migration for work is a pervasive reality in rural India. An overwhelming 120 million people or more are estimated to migrate from rural areas to urban labour markets, industries and farms. Migration of labourers from states like UP and Bihar have been witnessed over the last four decades.

Mumbai is now seeing  new sources of migrant labourers from state’s like Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and recently even North Eastern states. Among the biggest employers of migrant workers is the construction sector (40 million), domestic work (20 million), textile (11 million), brick kiln work (10 million), transportation, mines & quarries and agriculture. Managed in many cases by private labour contractors and fuelled by social networks there are well formed patterns in movement of labour across hundreds of kilometers within the country. (Source: IIPS, Mumbai 2001)

Migrants from different parts of country displaced or started fleeing despite Thackeray’s assurance of trains to take them to their states. The intial medical certificates and corruption made them exasperated. They are seeing walking railway tracks, roads , hanging like vine creepers on tempos and trucks, dumped themselves inside containers.

The videos surfacing on social media platforms indicate that they have piled on each other and have totally done away with social distancing along the route. Kumar with his cousins walked till Bhiwandi said, “I will sleep here somewhere and start again for Allahabad. I am not dependent on the PM Narendra Modi’s assurance or the state CM Uddhav Thackeray’s promises. They are all sitting in air-conditioned offices and homes. They are asking people like me to sit at home and they are claiming to look after the migrants. This is not happening on ground. We have decided to walk till Prayagraj. We have to be self-reliant.”

With few hundreds in pockets migrant workers from Mumbai are daily going to their states. They know that if they start they will reach and if they stay in lockdown 3.0, will die in hunger and fear. They want to die in their ‘Des’ not in ‘Pardesh’. Some are able to pay and board in for short distances and some cannot thus they keep walking till some driver agrees for a Free Ride.

Migrant Workmen Act 1979, states all establishments hiring inter-state migrants have to be registered, and the contractors who recruit such workmen should be licensed. The Act also states that contractors are obligated to provide details of all workmen to the relevant authority. Migrant workmen are also entitled to wages similar to other workmen. They should get displacement allowance, journey allowance, and payment of wages during the period of journey. Contractors are also required to ensure regular payment, non-discrimination, provisioning of suitable accommodation, free medical facilities and protective clothing for the workmen.

However Abdul Razaak, a daily wager after lockdown is left in lurch by the contractor and is sleeping at the construction site on the mercy of food packets from private people. The owner of his company is not helping him to even book tickets to his native Gazipur in Uttar Pradesh.

New Order and migrants in Mumbai:
The Thackeray government has again come out to rescue these migrants but their attempt is not reaching out to several thousand. Abdul Razaak tried booking his train tickets to Uttar Pradesh but only one train planned and he failed to book train tickets from IRCTC, Indian Railways ticket booking service. He tried reaching out to exit point with 11 companions but was thrown out by the Navi Mumbai police. Despite all considerations and leverage travelling given to the migrants Abdul Razzak will have to flee to reach his family in Gazipur.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Must Read

spot_img