![]() ![]() Several groups of home-bound migrant workers took off by foot regardless. The state government had faced pressure from construction lobbyists who feared a stall in infrastructure projects if migrant workers departed from the state capital. In another controversial move, authorities in the southern state of Karnataka initially refused to allow some 600,000 migrants to return home, encouraging them to work instead for real estate developers. However, after the move sparked controversy, state governments and the Ministry of Railways decided to cover the fees. The government had initially asked the millions of stranded migrant workers to pay their own train fares home. Read more: Coronavirus lockdown: Is India flattening the COVID-19 curve? The government has also authorized a number of special trains to transport some 300,000 workers from the diamond cutting and textile industries stranded in the western state of Gujarat and Odisha in the east. In the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, some 22 trains from other states have arrived in various districts, transporting thousands of migrants. India's sudden cancelation of trains left many migrant workers in limbo, and it wasn't until recently that the country began relaxing some of its transport measures. Many migrant workers have been walking home to their villages from major cities after losing their jobs following the nationwide lockdown Image: IANS There is no work and income and many of us are frustrated and long to get back home," Pritam Mondal, a diamond cutter, told DW. "We continue to be trapped in camps which is not pleasant. However, travel by air, rail and metro as well as any inter-state movement by road has been banned as part of the virus containment measures. Migrant laborers, some trapped in cities with others stranded in relief camps amid the lockdown, are eager to return home. The lockdown - the world's largest - has forced the country's 1.3 billion people to stay indoors since March 25 and has delivered a heavy blow to the livelihoods of a significant proportion of the country's nearly 40 million migrant laborers, according to a recent World Bank report.Īt the beginning of the month, the Indian government extended the lockdown for another two weeks beyond May 4. ![]() Subscribe to Corona Compact - DW's newsletter tracking coronavirus in Asia Many of them have been walking home to their villages from major cities after losing their jobs following the nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. The incident has once again put the spotlight on the severe hardships faced by millions of migrant workers in India over the past few weeks. India's Ministry of Railways said that the driver of the train tried to stop in time but failed. While 14 of them died on the spot, two of them later succumbed to their injuries. A freight train in India's western Maharashtra state's Aurangabad district on Friday ran over and killed at least 14 home-bound migrant workers who reportedly fell asleep on the tracks due to exhaustion.Īccording to police, the laborers worked for a steel company and were walking to their village in the neighboring state of Madhya Pradesh throughout the night. ![]()
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