In an interview with CNN-News 18 , Home Minister Amit Shah spoke of the impatience of migrant workers. After the Centre declared a nationwi...
In an interview with CNN-News 18, Home Minister Amit Shah spoke of the impatience of migrant workers. After the Centre declared a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus, some people “lost patience and started walking”, he said. But the government still swooped in and helped ferry walking migrants home in buses and trains. Shah admitted that some untoward incidents did happen, but that was only for “five or six days”. With this, in a few calm words, Shah exemplified the vast government apathy to the plight of the poor during the lockdown.
Here are a few realities that Shah and the Centre persistently choose to unsee, if not cover up.
First, migrant workers did not walk because they were impatient. They moved because they were out of jobs, they did not have enough to eat and they could not pay rent. Many were daily wage workers who lived on what they earned in a day. According to a survey by the Azim Premji University, 80% of urban workers lost their jobs during the lockdown and 61% of urban households did not have the means to buy even a week’s worth of essentials.
Second, even as hunger rose, government measures to provide food and income support fell...
