Just over five hundred thousand migrant workers (and their families) left Delhi during the second pandemic wave to return home; the Union Labor Ministry has said a subsequent lock-down in mid-April, bringing the total number of migrants leaving the capital to a small excess of one and a half million.
In a report that was presented on Monday to the parliamentary panel of internal affairs, the Labor and Employment Ministry reported that almost 517,073 migrants had been moving from Delhi on trains during the second wave, using data obtained from the rail ministry.
The government of Delhi said last month that between the middle of April and the middle of May almost 800,000 migrants used coaches to exit the capital.
In this report the exodus was smooth and attested to the partial nature of the lock-ups, as opposed to the migrant crisis that took place in April and May last Year, when many tried to reach home (with no transport at their disposal).
Of course, during the second wave there has been no national lockdown, although most countries have enforced lockdowns. But there were continued running both trains and buses. According to the Government of Delhi, for instance, some 800,000 people took buses from 3 ISBTs in Delhi to travel to other States between April 19 and May 14. In addition to the daily bus services from the terminals, these buses have been arranged for migrants by the governments of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
Between April and May, Delhi suffered from the fourth wave of Covid 19 infections, which overcame and overwhelmed healthcare workers, and led to crematoria.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court cited the tribulations of migrant workers during the pandemic and said “the apathy and lackadaisical attitude by the ministry of labour and employment is unpardonable”. It asked the Union government to make the national portal for registration of unrecognised workers operational by July 31 so that benefits could reach migrant workers. It also ordered all states and Union territories to implement the “One Nation, One Ration card” scheme to help migrant workers avail subsidised food ration anywhere in the country.
Anindita Adhikari from the Stranded Workers Action Network (SWAN) said that the best possible estimate of the number of migrants who left would come from train data, but added that the numbers are likely to be an underrepresentation. “We all know that with mobility this time, as there were no restrictions of interstate travel, it is likely the figure is an under representation.”
