Getting the short end of the stick: The burden on migrant workers' shoulders

NAVI MUMBAI: Two construction workers headed towards Jharkhand on Tuesday morning made for a sad picture of all that has gone wrong with the government planning during the ongoing lockdown. They had tied all their heavy bags filled with work tools on a long bamboo stick that they were carrying on their hardy shoulders as they walked on the Sion-Panvel road, to cover a distance of nearly 2,000 km to reach Giridih district, close to Dhanbad.
"We were left with no other option but to pack all our bags and go back home in Jharkhand, as there is no work here and little food," said Nirpak Koda, who was walking in front.
The co-worker walking behind, Samar Koda, told TOI: "At present we are walking from Panvel to Ghatkopar in order to find a truck or tempo that can take us towards Jharkhand. If that does not work out, then we will continue walking."
City activists have again reiterated that if the state and central governments had initially thought about how to deal with the large population of migrant workers at the start of the Lockdown, perhaps the poor could have systematically and safely reached their hometowns and villages.