Migrant Labourers Merit More Than Just a Ticket, They Need Respect

The government may have addressed concerns of the migrant workers, but their woes are far from over.

Migrant Workers need more than a free ticket

(Photo: The Quint)

Video Editor: Ashutosh Bharadwaj

Scores of daily wage labourers had migrated from their native lands in search of work and are now stranded due to the coronavirus pandemic, pulling every possible string to come back home.

However, the Indian government seems to have no regard for them. Sure, the government is helping migrant labourers go home by arranging for special interstate trains but there is no planning or sensitivity involved. The decision also seems to be taken in a haste.

But the peril doesn’t end there. The labourers have to pay for their own train fare, register for the same on an online government portal and also procure a medical clearance certificate which cost them Rs.200-400.

Who is helping them fill up these complicated registration forms?

In contrast, the government arranged for special flights to rescue Indians stranded in China. This operation cost national carrier Air India nearly 6 crore rupees.

Meanwhile, migrant workers struggle with the complications of going back to their native state in the same country. 

This has led migrant workers to hide in cement mixers to travel back home.

Another example of the negligence by the government is a viral photo of a family who was allegedly quarantined in a public toilet in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna.

While the media is laying emphasis on the government's efforts to allay concerns of migrant workers, whether these 'efforts' are coming to fruition is barely being reported.