Walking on foot for days, being cramped inside trucks and losing life in the worst of all cases, the current situation of migrant workers in India has shaken the nation’s conscience.
Or has it?
NDTV journalist Ravish Kumar addressed the question above in his recent Prime Time video. Talking about the plight of migrant workers, he said that those comparing this tragedy with 1947 partition are wrong because India was a very different country back then.
We neither had enough resources nor the manpower to make sure that people crossing the border could do it safely. The situation, now, is very different but the condition, worse.
He further addressed the helplessness of the workers, who can’t stay in metro cities because they don’t have money but can’t travel either because of inter-state travel ban.
It’s like they have become ‘illegal’ in their own country.
Many of these people are surviving on just a few biscuits per day, which Ravish said, has become a ‘national food’ and a common thread between everyone on this long journey back home.
He also touched upon how these people have become a mere number and have been dehumanised to a point where it seems like their existence doesn’t even matter to the government.
To survive, some of them have changed professions while others swear never to come back to the big cities, and that just goes on to show how, in the time of crisis, the country left them alone.
You can watch the complete video here: