Migrant workers who stayed back, now stare at rents and food insecurity

GURUGRAM: The last time Raj Kishore Yadav, amigrant worker from Madhubani in Bihar, and his family of four had a proper meal was on May 3. “Nobody came to give us food after that. I have a little girl who is just five and have been feeding her only biscuits and chana,” rues Yadav, who used to work with a garment factory till the lockdown.

Unlike the lakhs of daily-wage labourers who have left the city after losing their livelihoods, Yadav chose to stay back. “Most of the people have left for their villages on foot after a person from Kanpur managed to sneak out. But I have a small kid and can’t risk her life,” he explains.
At least thrice a week, the family managed to secure food packets distributed by the administration and NGOs. But that changed after May 3 as some community kitchens ran out of funds and shut down and the demand for meals also came down.
When meals were not given out at the Behrampur colony for days at a stretch, Yadav made desperate calls to the nodal officers to find out when they can leave for Madhubani. But those calls went unanswered. And now, Yadav, who has been without wages for 50 days, is being pressured by his landlord to vacate the house for not paying rent.
Yadav’s story is the story of every migrant worker who didn’t leave for their homes and is dependent on the government’s relief measures. With that and the piecemeal charity work vanishing, they are not sure which is a less painful way out of the situation — the arduous journey home or staying put amid the uncertainties in the city.
Apart from migrant labourers, even small businessmen staying in Gurgaon for over a decade, are now being forced to leave due the apathy of the locals during this crisis. “My father and brother run a small electrical works shop here. I, too, work in a private company. But due to the lockdown, we’ve had no income for the past two months. The landlord is pressuring us and asking us to leave if we don’t pay rent in a week’s time. Three or four other families in the vicinity are facing the same problems,” said 19-year-old Priyanshi Singh, a resident of Kadipur village.
The administration, however, has claimed that it has a zero-tolerance approach towards such cases. “Food relief is reaching everyone who raises demand. There might be some cases where it couldn’t reach as every official is handling multiple tasks. About rent payment, government has made it clear that no landlord can force for rent payment. If they do so, tenants must file a complaint at the nearest police station and immediate action will be taken. It’s not only crime but also inhumane to expect poor workers to pay at such a time,” said a district administration official.