Resident migrants’ story: Voice of the unheard in the time of COVID
The COVID-19 lockdown and its three extensions have created an unprecedented crisis, especially in the lives of migrants and unorganized sector workers. The National and regional media has largely covered the migrant’s crisis of those who were stranded and were unable to move to their hometowns. Most of these were short term migrants with families back in their hometown and sent remittances back home. The distress covered, represents only a small visible part of the crisis. The stories of migrants who have settled here with their families for the long term lost their job or income, and all livelihood options are largely underrepresented.
According to Census 2011, in Pune district, there were 60.94 lakhs total migrants, out of which 8.93 lakhs were from out of state (OOS). Among these, 25.37 lakhs (2.95 lakhs OOS) have been residing for more than 10 years. Our ongoing survey in migrant pockets of Pune has shown some stark revelations about the distress experienced by these long term settlers, and the lack of attention from responsible public authorities. The survey was designed in a detailed way to tap various distress indicators of the migrant workers in and around Pune. The survey questions started with demographic details such as educational background, marital status etc. followed by their migration history, and current employment status. Questions then focused on distress indicators such as availability of groceries, the possibility of money remittance, barriers faced while returning home, waiving off rent in case of temporary accommodation and in the last section we surveyed the psychological distress indicators. In the current sample, we found that 71% had totally lost employment and only 14.4% were still employed in the lockdown time in May 2020. Few were partially employed with little or no payment. Although the government had directed to pay the employees at least for a month during the lockdown, the surveyed people revealed that most of the employers did not pay them. Reinstating the fact, a maid who used to work in near-by societies revealed that only about half of the members of the housing societies paid the wages during the lockdown.
Income loss of two to three months has severely affected the livelihood of these marginalized migrant workers. About 65% had no savings, and only 14% said, they had enough savings to survive for two months of lockdown. Most of them could not afford basic food, medicine, and other essentials on a daily basis. Many of these long term migrant settlers, including those who came from other parts of Maharashtra, did not have a ration card. They expressed bureaucratic difficulties like running around from one office to another, excessive documentation requirements etc. in getting a ration card. Even those who had ration cards, 20% could not get ration due to reasons like address being in their hometown, Aadhaar card not linked to ration card and non-availability of ration during the COVID lockdown. The government had allowed withdrawal from PF accounts, but 89% of our respondents, despite many of them working in companies, did not have PF accounts. Most people have not seen Rs. 500 JanDhan Transfers. Banks charge for various transaction fees (e.g. availing new passbook, change in account type after merging, availing ATM card), which can be a premium for these people with minimal or zero deposits.
Furthermore, the government had urged a one-month rental waiver to be given to the tenants from owners. None of the tenants in some localities (like Someshwardi, Pashan) got such a waiver, although some reported owners agreeing for delayed payments. Rent and electricity were the major expenses after food which the respondents found hard to bear. The food aid by NGOs and private parties has been sporadic, not frequent and unpredictable to have two full meals every day. It is necessary to understand the impact of the lockdown of the psychological state of migrants. The survey specifically asked the migrant workers about how they felt when they heard about the lockdown for the first time. Most of them were confused, they felt this lockdown is only for a few days and life will resume soon. Some of them felt this pandemic is just like other recurring diseases like Dengue, Malaria, later realized the magnitude of it. Almost all migrant workers (92%) felt anxious in this situation, anxieties ranging from health issues, loss of livelihood, no savings, to insecure future. When asked about what exactly caused stress, (74%) respondents clearly mentioned that they feel stressed and it leads to sleeplessness and distrubed sleep and loss of appetite. Some also mentioned restlessness due to negative thoughts about the future. The last aspect the survey focused on was how the respondents value themselves. 20% of respondents felt worthless, probably because they associate self-worth with their livelihood. 23% sometimes experienced the feeling of worthlessness. Contrary to our expectation, 44% respondents never felt undervalued, mainly because they had substantial family support as they were living with family members.
Here we narrate the stories of such residents in a chawl in Someshwarwadi, Pashan. Baccha Lal Goutham, 40-year-old migrant from Jaunpur, UP, works in a company in Baner as a Housekeeping staff. He has not received payment for two months; in spite of continuing his work regularly. He used to earn Rs 8,000 a month, to support his family of four. He occasionally sends Rs 1000–1500 remittance to his parents in UP. Although he has stayed in Pune for 15 years, he still doesn’t have a ration card, and has not received free rations from the government so far. Ram Chandra Pal (Ramji Maharaj), a lock fitter, interior design worker and facilitator, aged 49, from Gorakhpur, UP has been staying in the same Chawl for many years. With his contacts in the neighbourhood and support from local organizations, he arranged food aid for the people of the chawl. He also facilitated young migrants who wanted to go home, by filling online applications for train journeys. The residents had received food aid (mainly Khichdi, and sometimes Dal-chawal-sabzi), from local workers for about a month and a half. Sadly, the food supply has stopped since a month.
A 46-year-old migrant from UP who did not wish to be named, made several attempts to contact relevant local authorities. Maharashtra helpline number was not responding, he sent pictures to journalists, contacted the Sub Division office, but received no help. When contacted the corporators mentioned aid kits are not immediately available. In his words “Corporators come to ask for votes but do not come to offer any kind of aid”. He perceives discrimination, as he is from UP and speaks Hindi to officials in Pune.
Apart from these, stories of lack of access to health care in the time of COVID also emerged from our interviews. A 24-year-old pregnant woman with 9-month-old son, could not get Antenatal Care (ANC) as the nearby government hospital was closed for maternity services. Her meagre savings were not sufficient to fetch milk for her son, let alone have it for chai. The family now lives largely on borrowings. An elderly lady, who lives with her disabled husband, who used to work as a housemaid, is now unable to pay for food, rent, and medicines. The free supply of medicines from government hospitals has ceased, hence she has to shell out Rs. 1000–1200 per month privately for her husband’s medication.
These stories reveal the unseen miseries of the settlers in Pune, and possibly many other cities in India. The government announcements of free ration, JanDhan transfer, PF withdrawal, does not seem to have touched these people. COVID was supposed to ramp up health care, but these residents saw greater barriers to public health and nutrition; especially for children, pregnant and lactating mothers, and the elderly. A common cry among these people was “hunger will kill us before Corona”.
(Dr. Shivakumar Jolad, Associate Professor, Public Policy and Dr. Shalaka Shah, Assistant Professor, Psychology- FLAME University, Lavale, Pune. www.flame.edu.in)
An abridged version of the story was published in Sakala Times, June 13, 2020 https://www.sakaltimes.com/opinion/voice-unheard-resident-migrants%E2%80%99-story-during-covid-19-times-51667
