Table of Contents

Introduction .….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…. 02

About SWAN .….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….… 03

Coverage .….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…… 04

Migrant Worker Profiles .….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….… 06

‘Food and Cash’ not ​‘Food or Cash’ .….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….. 06

Rate of Hunger and Distress Exceeding the Rate of Relief .….….….….….….….….. 10

Changing Nature of Distress .….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…… 16

The View from Some States .….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…. 18

Social Solidarity during the Lockdown-Induced Crisis .….….….….….….….….….….. 22

Recommendations .….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….. 24

Endnotes .….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…… 27

Team SWAN .….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….….…. 28

On the 25^th of March the Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, announced a nationwide lockdown to stem the spread of the novel Coronavirus, COVID-19.. The decision, while imminent, was unplanned and unilaterally made without any consultation with the state governments. This has consequently caught millions of migrant workers and the bureaucracy off-guard, leaving them no time to plan for such an emergency. While millions of migrants successfully reached their home states, only to be quarantined in camps, many remain stranded far from home, with no money or food. We are therefore confronting a lethal combination of crises: health, hunger, sanitation, and trauma, both physical and psychological.

On the 14^th of April, the lockdown was extended by another three weeks to the 3^rd of May. In his address to the nation, the PM barely acknowledged the unprecedented hardship caused by the brutal lockdown so far and treated India’s 400 million migrants, of which 0.6 million are in relief shelters and 2.2 million have been provided food, as if they were a miniscule minority — ​“kisi ko khaane ki pareshaani, kisi ko aane jaane ki pareshani, koi ghar parivaar se door hai” (Some are finding it difficult to eat, some are finding it difficult to move around, some are finding it difficult to be away from their families). In fact, the figures of 0.6 and 2.2 million, based on the status report filed by the government in the Supreme Court, are just another indication of gross underprovisioning for migrants during the lockdown. Migrant workers have lived and worked in the blind spots of our societal imagination. Scenes of their discontent and resistance against the lockdown and the sudden extension came to the fore recently in Surat and Mumbai as thousands gathered on the street. All they want is to be extricated from the continued trauma and helplessness and be able to go home; the most basic of human needs.

As we show in this report, the first three weeks of the lockdown have been utterly distressing for stranded workers and goes far beyond mere ​“pareshaani” as the PM put it. Despite the immense hardships that millions of stranded workers continue to endure, there was still no announcement on economic relief measures for them. Unless a combination of universal rations and money transfers, are implemented in letter and spirit, India is staring at alarming levels of destitution and despair.

Since the lockdown, some of us associated with campaigns on the Right to Food and the Right to Work have been constantly receiving distress calls from stranded migrant workers for food and cash from various parts of India.

We are calling ourselves SWAN: Stranded Workers Action Network and have been working since the 27^th of March. What has stood out in the work so far is the initiative and urgency with which various civil society groups, individuals and a few officials have responded.

NOTE : All data is upto 13^th April,2020