India’s migrant workers are walking home, hungry and scared of the police

Sushil Kumar, a migrant worker, walks along a highway with his family to return to their village, during a 21-day nationwide lockdown to limit the spreading of the coronavirus, March 27 2020. Picture: REUTERS/ADNAN ABIDI

“Nobody thought of people like us, with small children, no money, no food and no way to get home,” said Singh to Saajha Manch, a hotline migrant workers can call for advice. “The disease is already killing people but we will die of hunger. How will we survive?” Officials say the shutdown of all but essential services is necessary to beat Covid-19 in the densely populated country, whose health infrastructure can ill-afford a widespread outbreak.

“It might take me 10 to 12 days before I reach home, but I don’t have a choice,” he said by phone from Tumkur, about 70km from Bangalore, a distance he covered in 18 hours. “There was no food, no work in Bangalore after the lockdown.”Krishnavatar Sharma, whose non-profit Aajevika Bureau runs another help line for migrant workers, said he had been inundated with calls. “They just want to come back home, but for that, we cannot do anything.

Indian is currently in lockdown Government have made no arrangements for these poor people to get back to their village some as far as 500km away Many will sadly die of starvation before they can each their homes. The lockdown is necessary but implementation & planning was poor

I think we should all be afraid of the police. They abuse their power at all times recklessly

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