Written by: Ayushi Singh (Intern)
Edited by: Anubhav Yadav (Content Head & Developer)
India was one amongst the leading countries to implement the initial internment to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, but still, the internment unsuccessful and inside a couple of months; Bharat joined the list of states most littered with the coronavirus epidemic. The government of India was, without doubt, quite swift to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak, but it also shows the seeming lack of preparation and coordination in its implementation. India couldn’t profit much from the introduction of an early lockdown and joined the list of countries most afflicted by the coronavirus outbreak in a few months’ time. COVID-19 has been a catastrophe for migrant workers in India, who are often wrongly accused of illness spread. But they were, in actuality, one of the hardest groups afflicted. The pandemic has been extremely damaging for domestic migrants in India and the poor and underprivileged have been most severely afflicted.
Migrants died from hunger, suicide, fatigue, road and rail accidents, police violence and the refusal of proper medical attention. In particular, in accordance with the 2005 scheme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Environmental Assistance Act (MNREGA), a rural employment system that ensures 100 working days for all, many families were brought into their native place by the COVID–19 pandemic of reverse immigration. The task was changed to create more jobs for people. For those migrants who are neither beneficiary of a National Food Safety Act or of the NFSA nor have state cards, the Government has pledged a free supply of 5 kg of food grain per person and 1 kilograms of canna per family per month for two months. Eight crore migrants are expected by the government to profit from the scheme, and the Center has to spend 3,500 crores. The implementation and distribution shall be the responsibility of the States.
The center has also implemented One Nation One Ration card scheme, through this scheme migrant workers will be allowed to access their rations (foods) from any part of the country not only from state of their permanent residence.
The government has also launched Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Scheme. Through this scheme the government will convert the government aided housings of the cities into cheap affordable staying places on rent. Many migrant workers resort to their own transportation means to return home in ever greater difficulty — many of them had no choice but to walk large distances — before the central government eventually announced the launch of Shramik Special Train to facilitate movement of migrants stranded outside their home state. State governments were led by the Ministry of Health and Family Affairs to conduct aid camps for migrant workers with food, sanitation and medical care arrangements. The finance minister declared in the second tranche of the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan that migrant labourers who had a two-month ration card would receive free food grains. Eight migrant workers and their families are likely to profit from this measure.