Coronavirus: India's workforce left stranded miles from home after lockdown
A 21-day country lockdown has been a blow to the country's very large migrant population who are left miles from home.
Tuesday 31 March 2020 16:39, UK
India's lockdown has hit its large casual worker population who are now faced with near-impossible journeys home from the country's industry hubs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of a 21-day country lockdown has been a blow to the country's very large migrant population, many of whom have no permanent employment.
The leader's announcement was made at 8pm, only four hours before the shutdown kicked into effect at midnight.
India's lockdown will likely mean daily wage workers would have no work or earnings for the next three weeks. They, along with contract workers, form almost 80% of India's workforce.
Within days, photographs emerged showing thousands of these workers walking from the prosperous western parts of the country to reach their homes and villages in the poorer east. They walked for hundreds of miles as all public transport had shut.
Maitu Tewari, 21, who worked for a car manufacturer in Rajasthan, told Sky News he walked for three days to reach Delhi. He was on his way to his home town in Satna in Madhya Pradesh, 700 kilometres from here.
His employer said the factory was closed and he should leave. He set out on the morning of the 23 March and covered 25 to 30km every day.
Mr Tewari's belongings were stolen one night when he slept exhausted from his journey. He says he is desperate to take a train as he feels he cannot walk further and has no money, spare clothes or mobile phone.
For now Mr Tewari is staying at a relief camp set up by the Delhi government for migrants and those in need of shelter and food.
Dilip Taram, 30, a welder from Nagpur in Maharashtra, had been working for a private company in Dharuhera in Rajasthan. His boss gave him Rs 500 (£5.40) and asked him to leave.
After walking for eight hours, he reached Delhi and was brought by police to the Sarai Kale Khan relief camp.
Mr Taram has an eight-month-old son at home.
"I have to get back home as quickly as possible. I don't know how my wife and baby are coping. Every time I speak to my wife she cries and wants me back. I am so worried, no one is there to look after them and feed them," he tells Sky News, his eyes filling with tears.
The camp has basic facilities, with large rooms that sleep 15 to 20 people. Two meals are provided a day.
Social distancing is not observed and personal protection measures are almost non-existent, with only a few people wearing face masks. The camp administrators encourage people to keep apart and to wash hands regularly but not many adhere to it.
Mr Taram told Sky News: "I don't have the energy to walk another two metres but my home town is 1,100km from here. I left home to earn a bit of more money, but never again will I leave my home."
Another man, a contract worker in the construction industry, told Sky News: "The government should have given us all at least a week to return home before they shut it all down. The PM says stay at home, but how can we when I'm stuck here in Delhi. My family is so worried for me.
"This is like torture, I am most vulnerable to the disease in camps like this and no one practices any precautions here."
The Delhi government has set up more than 500 relief camps where people can take shelter.
Human rights activist Harsh Mander said: "This all seemed unplanned. Not anticipating the closure like this will affect the lower economic class. It was not possible to hold people back. The poor have been thrown under the bus."
On 26 March, the government announced a £18bn relief package to cover free food and cash transfers to the poor and vulnerable, and health insurance for frontline health workers among other measures.