'Renuka Devi, who lives in Bengaluru, is staring at an uncertain future. For the next two weeks of the lockdown, the 32-year-old, who works as domestic help, is not going to get her monthly salary. Renuka works in multiple households to earn enough to run and manage her household. With the lockdown, several of her employers have refused to pay her and she is struggling to sustain her livelihood. Just like many women across India, who work as domestic helps, Renuka too is struggling to buy ration and does not have the privilege of social distancing in times of a pandemic.
'As Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a national lockdown on March 24 and asked Indians to stay home in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus, it triggered an exodus of migrant workers from the cities. With all work halted and public transport shut, they set off on desperate journeys, aiming to walk back to homes hundreds of kilometres away. But Gaurav Kumar was not one of them.
'...Sangeeta from Sudhama Puri, who worked as a house help, said she is six months pregnant and is concerned over the money required for her child’s birth. “When she [employer] needed me, she used to make so many calls. Now, she hasn’t even asked me how I am managing, whether I am alive or not. She deducted money for 10 days and when I asked for her help, she did not even open the door and treated me like an untouchable,” said Sangeeta. She last went to work on March 22.
'“No, we are not covered by this curfew. We cannot afford to take a day off. After all, people need to stay safe – and for that we have to keep cleaning the city,” says Deepika, a sanitation worker in the Thousand Lights locality of Chennai.
'The Surat police on Monday arrested 96 migrant labourers following a violent clash late on Sunday night with the police. Over a thousand workers, who wanted to go to their natives mostly in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, were stopped by the local police that resulted into the clash... Police said that more than 1,000 migrant workers had gathered on the road in Vanod under Pandesara police station and were seeking permission to leave the city for their natives in UP, Bihar, Bengal among other places.
'A 27-year-old tempo driver was arrested on Sunday for trying to ferry 17 migrant labourers from Andheri in Mumbai to Nalasopara in Palghar district amid the ongoing lockdown, police said. The incident occurred in the evening, police said. The arrested driver, identified as Ajay Kumar Teehuri, was later released on bail...'
'The plight of poor migrant workers of India’s most populous state -- Uttar Pradesh – has no parallel. They were compelled to walk hundreds of kilometres to reach their hometowns after losing livelihood and suspension of transport services. To add to their woes, arbitrary fares were demanded by those offered bus services. Also, bus drivers harassed them, asking them to show their Aadhaar cards, and also deboarded some of them in the middle of highways.
'A Youth Congress worker from Malappuram who released a fake WhatsApp voice message claiming that a special train for migrant workers will leave from Malappuram’s Nilambur station on Monday, has been arrested by the police. The accused has been identified as Ali Shakeer (32), a Youth Congress worker and former mandal secretary from Edvanna. He has been booked by the Edavanna police on Sunday night...'
'The lockdown for preventing the spread of the coronavirus could not have had come at a worse time for the tea gardens of north Bengal, for it coincided with the flush production of the Darjeeling tea industry. The first flush, which is harvested in March, and the second flush of May, are the biggest source of revenue for the tea gardens of the region, and till a few days ago, despite the lockdown, plucking of tea leaves continued in some gardens... “An immediate lockdown of [tea] gardens is necessary, but with the survival of the workers in mind.
'A total of 120 people were packed inside the 40 to 50-seater bus with another 100 on the roof. They had travelled more than 550km over 40 hours — mostly in suffocating heat —and many of them had an even longer distance to cover. That was the account the police in Kanpur’s Naubasta area heard on Saturday night when they stopped the private bus to ask why it was flouting the lockdown.
