NEW DELHI: Tens of thousands of impoverished migrant workers are on the move across India, walking on highways and railway tracks or riding in trucks, buses and crowded trains in the blazing heat.
Some are accompanied by pregnant wives and young children, braving threats from the coronavirus pandemic.
In this Friday, May 15, 2020, photo, migrant workers from other Indian states run towards a railway station desperate to catch a train to return to their homes, in Mumbai, India. Tens of thousands of impoverished migrant workers are on the move across India, walking on highways and railway tracks or riding trucks, buses and crowded trains in blazing heat amid threat to their lives from the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
They say they have been forced to leave cities and towns where they had toiled for years building homes and roads after they were abandoned by their employers — casualties of a nationwide lockdown to stop the virus from spreading.
The government and charities have tried to set up shelters for them, but their numbers are simply overwhelming, leaving them little choice but to head on a perilous journey home.
Last week, a train crashed into a group of tired workers who fell asleep on the tracks while walking back home in western Maharashtra state, killing 16. On Saturday, at least 23 laborers died in northern India when a truck they were traveling in smashed into a stationary truck on a highway.
“I don’t know what the future holds for me,” said Hari Ram, a 28-year-old mason who set out for his village in central India this week on foot, hoping to hitch a ride on the way.
“One thing is certain: If I die, I will die in my home. I will never set foot in New Delhi again,” he said.
Dasrath, 32, who uses one name, said “Indian politicians only come to us for votes during elections. We are facing a very difficult situation now — nobody is helping us.”
Half of India’s population earns less than $3 a day. Over 90% of the workforce is employed in the informal sector, without access to significant savings or social protection benefits such as paid sick leave or insurance, according to the World Bank.
The migrant workers say they can return to farming and also take up jobs like building roads, water harvesting in drought-hit areas and construction of animal shelters under a government program that guarantees 100 days of employment a year in rural India for 200 rupees ($2.65) per person per day.
Their exodus is causing worries for India’s top consumer goods companies, which fear a possible labor shortage as they resume production.
In this Friday, May 15, 2020, photo, police officers try to control a crowd of migrant workers from other states gathering outside a railway station desperate to return to their homes, in Mumbai, India. Tens of thousands of impoverished migrant workers are on the move across India, walking on highways and railway tracks or riding trucks, buses and crowded trains in blazing heat amid threat to their lives from the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
In this Wednesday, May 13, 2020, photo, a family of migrant workers receive bananas and biscuits from a man as they walk along a highway hoping to reach their home, hundreds of miles away, during a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of new coronavirus in New Delhi, India. Tens of thousands of impoverished migrant workers are on the move across India, walking on highways and railway tracks or riding trucks, buses and crowded trains in blazing heat amid threat to their lives from the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
In this Friday, May 8, 2020, photo, a migrant worker from the state of Chhattisgarh displays wear holes in his sandals while taking a rest during the journey to his village by foot hundreds of miles away during a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of new coronavirus in Hyderabad, India. Tens of thousands of impoverished migrant workers are on the move across India, walking on highways and railway tracks or riding trucks, buses and crowded trains in blazing heat amid threat to their lives from the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
In this Monday, May 4, 2020, photo, migrant workers from the neighboring state of Maharashtra trying to return to their villages hundreds of miles away jump a fence as they walk through a highway during a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of new coronavirus on the outskirts of Hyderabad, India. Tens of thousands of impoverished migrant workers are on the move across India, walking on highways and railway tracks or riding trucks, buses and crowded trains in blazing heat amid threat to their lives from the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
In this Monday, May 11, 2020, photo, migrant workers from other states desperate to return to their homes walk through rail tracks towards a train station in Ahmedabad, India. Tens of thousands of impoverished migrant workers are on the move across India, walking on highways and railway tracks or riding trucks, buses and crowded trains in blazing heat amid threat to their lives from the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
In this Tuesday, May 12, 2020, photo, Muslim migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh state offer prayers before breaking their fast during Ramadan, even as they attempt to return to their villages hundreds of miles away, during a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of new coronavirus on the outskirts of Hyderabad, India. Tens of thousands of impoverished migrant workers are on the move across India, walking on highways and railway tracks or riding trucks, buses and crowded trains in blazing heat amid threat to their lives from the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
In this Friday, May 1, 2020, photo, people who arrived from neighboring Madhya Pradesh state on Thursday stretch their hands out to receive a banana each before boarding a bus to be transported back to their native homes in Uttar Pradesh state in Allahabad, India. Tens of thousands of impoverished migrant workers are on the move across India, walking on highways and railway tracks or riding trucks, buses and crowded trains in the blazing heat. They say they have been forced to leave cities and towns where they had toiled for years building homes and roads after they were abandoned by their employers – casualties of lockdown to stop the virus from spreading. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
In this Wednesday, April 29, 2020, photo, Indian laborers kept in quarantine after arriving from outside the state protest against poor treatment at the quarantine center in Prayagraj, India. Tens of thousands of impoverished migrant workers are on the move across India, walking on highways and railway tracks or riding trucks, buses and crowded trains in the blazing heat. They say they have been forced to leave cities and towns where they had toiled for years building homes and roads after they were abandoned by their employers – casualties of lockdown to stop the virus from spreading. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
