Reading the mind of perplexed migrant labour

Julio Ribeiro

MODIJI was faced with a Hobson’s choice. It was a difficult one to make, but if there is one quality that differentiates Modiji from mere mortals, this is it — he does not shirk from taking tough decisions! Modiji has opted for life over livelihood. Either way, unfortunate and less-privileged citizens are destined to die. But what is on every citizen’s mind today is coronavirus. Modiji is determined to save his fellow countrymen and women from the scourges of the virus. He wants to do it more effectively than his counterparts, Donald Trump and other heads of state. He has correctly decided that the desired results can be achieved if people confine themselves to their homes and follow the rule of social distancing.

Unfortunately, half of our people live on the margins of existence. They do not stay in comfortable flats or houses, which can make daily life bearable even if you do not cross the Lakshman Rekha of the threshold of your house.

In a city like Mumbai, slum and chawl dwellers live eight or more to a cramped 10x10 room, use common conveniences situated outside, and sleep on the floor, cheek to jowl. They are well aware that they remain vulnerable to the virus, whether they stay indoors or travel in overcrowded trains. Either way, they are more likely to catch the virus than citizens like Modiji or me, who are the lucky ones.

The choice for migrant or even local labour is clearly defined. They would gain emotionally if they are amongst their own, even if they lose the benefits of free board and lodging provided by the government. A typical representative of the clan of migrant labour works for me as a domestic. He tells me that he is much better off by choosing to live in my flat but he still wants to see the end of the lockdown, as he wants to be with his family at this difficult time. I do sympathise with him and offer all the help possible under the circumstances.

Talking to him and my daughters’ domestics, who hail like him from Bihar and UP, I realise that Modiji, whose communication skills have never failed him in the worst of times, has tripped on this occasion. He should have addressed these poor souls, in particular, when he spoke to the nation on April 14. All of them were glued to the TV with hope and expectation writ distinctly on their faces. They were more than disappointed.

The PM’s advisers should have anticipated this reaction. The signs had appeared in the earlier phase of the lockdown. In Delhi, migrant labour, housed in shelters meant for the homeless, burnt down two such shelters to attract attention to their plight. In Surat (Gujarat), migrant labour, hailing largely from Odisha, came out on the streets and set public and private property on fire to voice their protest.

These two instances should have alerted the PMO and Modiji’s confidants to begin communicating more personally with this segment of our people who toil far away from hearth and home. A tentative calendar for their reunion with their families, in the light of the threat from the coronavirus, can still be drawn up in consultation with experts and communicated to some representatives of the migrant labourers. Travelling in hordes is dangerous but depriving them of familial support could be worse.

Coronavirus has generated a fear psychosis that is perhaps matched only by the bubonic plague of 1896. An emergency of sorts has been unofficially proclaimed. An emergency requires out-of-the-box thinking. Can the laws be tweaked to dock every political party with 75 per cent of the money collected by them through electoral bonds? This money is now being used, I daresay, to reverse election results by buying of ruling party legislators. This is downright undemocratic, in fact disgraceful! Can we make more ethical use of such money to fly migrant labour to Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Patna, Darbhanga, Jaipur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar by chartered aircraft?

At these destinations, state governments should receive the migrants and arrange for their quarantine for 14 days before buses are hired for their transportation to their homes. Only those who agree to the quarantine will be transported. The reason for the quarantine is to safeguard their families and this can be explained to them.

Many NGOs and individual philanthropists are feeding the poor in the government shelters. The state governments are doing their bit. But this philanthropy is insufficient to get the concurrence and cooperation of the migrant daily-wagers to this necessary measure of extending the lockdown. Communicating with them is the most important action required at this juncture. If this is not done urgently, protests and disruptions of the type recorded in the city of Mumbai on April 14 evening at Bandra railway station will be repeated.

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