Daily wage workers came into highlight for the first time after the lockdown was announced on 25th March 2020, when New Delhi Chief Minister announced that buses would run from Delhi to Uttar Pradesh for them. Lakhs of people appeared wanting to go home at Anand Vihar Bus Terminal. No social distancing, no masks, and no fear of Covid-19 as the only thing they cared on that day was getting back home.
Some are travelling 700 to 1000 kilometers on foot and some are dying on the railway tracks before reaching home and many are even cycling back home just to see their family together.
Then news kept on coming from Mumbai’s Bandra railway station as again many had appeared due to the rumor that trains had started operations. So finally, the daily wage workers came into acknowledgement by the government, but many are calling this “The Migrant Crisis.”
First things first-
THEY ARE NOT MIGRANTS!
They are citizens of our country who have just gone to other states to earn a living. Just because they belong to the lower section of the society and are daily wage workers doesn’t mean you can call them ‘Migrants’. They do not need to be kept at places like refugee camps and be treated like one and Yes, they have the rights to ask the government to help them reach back.
Where do they want to go?
All of them want to go back to their home states. Most of these workers belong to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal and have been working in all parts of the country. This part of India sends talented workers all over the world as they are capable of working under any condition.
Why did this problem arise?
The first line explains 50% of the problem that these people are daily wage workers. They work extremely hard to earn money but spend all of it on the same day even if it is just for daily essentials. ‘They don’t save money at all’ because if they did then there would be no problem in the initial days of lockdown and could have easily gone back home later when government announced Special Shramik Trains for them.
Source- The Daily Express
Where does their money go?
One has to understand that this is not something new. The problem with these workers continues from one generation to another generation.
Some of these workers have heavy debt on their heads taken for things like agricultural inputs, sister/daughter’s marriage and building homes and they spend most of their lives in paying the heavy interests charged by moneylenders.
Then there are many who are unemployed and have big families consisting of at least 4-5 children. There are no job opportunities in their home states and to feed the stomachs of their families they have to go and look for work outside their states.
Now most of the money earned goes into feeding the families so this is where the next generations problem starts. As soon as the worker’s eldest child (preferably son) get ready physically at the age of 14-15, he also starts working instead of continuing his studies so that it will increase the family’s overall income. And this lack of education and literacy creates a problem for the next generation.
So this was their generation wise explanation of where and how the mistake starts. Their life is so poor that in some cases their workplaces are better than their homes.
Then why question the employers?
Questions are being asked why they were not paid by their employers or why enough measures were made by the employer so that the worker could stay at the same place but what’s the truth?
Most of these workers (70%-80%) belong to the unorganized sector and very less belong to the organized sectors. Organised sectors are those businesses which belong to the same business for years without changing their mainstream business idea and their business model consists of more of machines and less of labour. Unorganised sector consists of businessmen who are opportunists, they will enter any market with little investment to earn profits. They see the right opportunity at the right time and hire people instantly. Everything in this sector happens quickly and that is what happened once the lockdown was announced.
These businessmen knew that they wont be getting business for at least a quarter and that is why predicting lockdown after ‘Janta Curfew’ they gave their workers their salary and told them to go back home as they didn’t want any burden on them anytime during the lockdown.
This is where these workers came from. Many were fired, many wanting to go home even after having everything and many already roaming around unemployed due to the bad condition of our economy.
Who is to blame?
Any kind of government, whether the state or central is obviously not the right one to put the blame on. There is already shortage of funds related to handling the Covid-19 crisis, yet they are making all measures such as trains and bus for sending these people home. Not only are they sending them home but also providing them with food and shelters. All these efforts are appreciated. Who’s left? The Employer? No, because even he doesn’t know how he will survive the next few months.
Yes, the Workers are themselves responsible because they never think of saving any money and those who have saved money are the ones chilling out during the lockdown.
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