The abject lack of awareness about the symptoms of COVID-19 and preventive measures may have triggered fear of death among migrant communities stranded at their workplace, making them anxious to return home to be with their dear ones.
This was one of the findings of a rapid assessment of the initial impact of the lockdown on migrant labourers from Kalahandi district in Odisha. The study was jointly conducted by Kochi-based Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development (CMID) and Gram Vikas, a rural development organisation operating in Odisha and Jharkhand.
According to the assessment, of the 35.80% of migrants from Thuamul Rampur, one of the most backward community development blocks in Kalahandi, stranded at their workplace, only 9.40% know about the pandemic symptoms and only 12.50% of preventive measures.
The household migration rate in Thuamul Rampur between December 2019 and January 2020 was pegged at nearly 20%, with one in every three households reporting a history of migration in the last decade. Of the bouseholds, Kerala accounted for over 70% and Tamil Nadu 12%. All the workers stranded in Kerala have access to shelters, and over 90% have access to two meals a day thanks to the State government’s efforts.
However, migrants and their families continue to remain anxious.
“The Kerala government should encourage these migrant workers to stay back as their role will be inevitable in reviving our economy post-lockdown, while their income props up the economies of their villages. Besides, it will check the spread of infection between States, while migrant workers will be assured of the best treatment here like nowhere else,” said Benoy Peter, executive director, CMID.
The study concluded that the lockdown had a catastrophic impact on the village economies of Kalahandi. With the Odisha government extending the lockdown till the end of April and the Central government also planning for a staggered lockdown beyond April 14, the plight of stranded migrant workers from Kalahandi may be further exacerbated.
With nearly 55% of migrants already back, a majority from a COVID-19 hotspot, the danger of infections spiralling in the villages of Kalahandi with a fragile healthcare ecosystem remains real.
The study recommends deployment of mobile medical units for active screening and for providing healthcare services to avoid such a scenario.
It also calls for cash transfers to workers stranded away from their homes since they were less likely to benefit from the measures announced by the Union and State governments given the exclusion generally suffered by inter-State migrant labourers.