Living in Pookattupady near Aluva, far from family and home in Kolkata, Bapirul Islam is worried and uncertain. “My wife and mother back home will not tell me if they have not been able to get food or ration. But my son tells me sometimes that he has had only one meal that day or has not eaten,” he says.
He has not been able to pay the local grocer for the supplies he bought and has not been able to send money home since the lockdown. Finding work here doing odd jobs lifting loads or helping on construction sites was difficult, but he would get paid ₹700 daily, he says. “It’s simple – if I earn, they can eat,” he says of his family at home – his parents, wife and son.
He would like to go home for now, but would eventually return to the State. “This is where the work is and I need to feed the family,” he says.
Bapirul Islam lives with over 50 others in a rented space where the landlord gave them ration for a few days but that did not last and they had to try and buy their own, he says. Since they can no longer afford diesel as cooking fuel, they have to head out looking for wood.
Contractors, employers and building owners are still required to provide food, says District Labour Officer (Enforcement) V.B. Biju. “If they are not able to, based on complaints, we arrange for it,” he says. On wages for workers he says, “We have not arrived at that stage yet. The question of wages will arise only after the lockdown when establishments have opened up and employees return to work.”
Workers’ camps
Of the 18,911 migrant worker camps that have been identified, 367 are being run by various district administrations, while 13,571 were being run by employers or contractors. The remaining were scattered rented buildings where workers live.
A majority of camps are existing facilities where workers were living and where services are now being provided, says Benoy Peter, executive director, Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development. A few additional ones were set up to decongest the existing facilities. “After 21 days, expecting petty employers or contractors to provide food could be too much stress on them. The State should take the onus,” says he.
When workers call the helpline set up for them, they are usually asked for the landlord’s or employer’s number, says Mujeeb Rahman, coordinator, Manav Welfare Foundation, an Ernakulam-based NGO that works with migrant workers. Most of them are hesitant to give the number fearing consequences, he adds.
Rabiul Islam from Murshidabad, who lives in Aluva, says that the owner of the building he lives in has been providing ration regularly. “There is food but no money. When can I take a train home,” he asks.
