They have no food. No water. And no shelter. They are the migrant workers of our country who are struggling ever since the lockdown was announced.
All they want to do is return to their hometown but, due to lack of transport most of them are walking thousands of miles to reach home and to be with their families. While some are able to make it home, others are dying due to lack of food, water and rest.
The situation is gut-wrenching and extremely saddening to say the least. There are no words to describe what the migrant workers are going through so we compiled videos and pictures to show you the reality of the situation.
Here are 10 heartbreaking instances that show the plight of what the poor of our country are going through during this lockdown.
1. Tired and exhausted young boy was seen sleeping on a suitcase as his migrant parents continued walking from Punjab to Uttar Pradesh. They can’t even afford to rest.
In a heartbreaking video, a little boy is seen asleep on a suitcase as his migrant parents take a long journey home from Punjab to Uttar Pradesh#MigrantLabourers #CorornavirusLockdown pic.twitter.com/FmEpzGNJQy
— NDTV (@ndtv) May 14, 2020
2. Migrant workers in Karnataka were allegedly given stale rice by the district officials. This is exactly why these poor, helpless migrants want to return to their homes.
See the kind of rice supplied to migrant workers in #DakshinKannada district by officials. And people still wonder- why are they demanding to go back home. pic.twitter.com/JlSSVSDgzn
— Imran Khan (@keypadguerilla) May 14, 2020
3. In a viral video, a group of men were fighting over biscuit packets on a railway station in Bihar’s Katihar city. They all are fighting for survival or end up dying of hunger.
भूख से संघर्ष।
— Narendra nath mishra (@iamnarendranath) May 14, 2020
(बिहार के कटिहार स्टेशन पर बिस्किट के लिए जंग) pic.twitter.com/noGCiOFokf
4. This MP man walked over 700 kms from Hyderabad pulling his pregnant wife and child on a makeshift wooden cart amid the lockdown. Heartbreaking!
बालाघाट का एक #मजदूर जो कि हैदराबाद में नौकरी करता था 800 किलोमीटर दूर से एक हाथ से बनी लकड़ी की गाड़ी में बैठा कर अपनी 8 माह की गर्भवती पत्नी के साथ अपनी 2 साल की बेटी को लेकर गाड़ी खींचता हुआ बालाघाट पहुंच गया @ndtvindia @ndtv #modispeech #selfreliant #Covid_19 pic.twitter.com/0mGvMmsWul
— Anurag Dwary (@Anurag_Dwary) May 13, 2020
5. In a shocking incident, 15 tired migrant workers were crushed to death by a goods train after they slept on the railway tracks in Maharashtra’s, Aurangabad district.
A freight train ran over 15 migrant labourers between Jalna and Aurangabad of Nanded Divison of South Central Railway (SCR): Railway official #Maharashtra https://t.co/0sxdrbhCJs pic.twitter.com/aCF3mXVEI6
— ANI (@ANI) May 8, 2020
6. Ajay Kumar Saket, a differently-abled migrant worker, unable to board the Shramik Train decided to walk for 1200 kms from Mumbai to Madhya Pradesh.
With no food at home and no money left to buy it, Ajay Kumar Saket is now forced to walk all the way to his native village in Madhya Pradesh, located 1200 kilometers from Mumbai. (Report: @divyeshas) #Mumbai #lockdown #migrantshttps://t.co/qbBCgusa9o
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) May 9, 2020
7. A wife of a migrant worker gave birth on the road and then walked 160 kms after resting for an hour. With her husband by her side, Shakuntala set on a journey on foot from Nashik to Satna.
Madhya Pradesh: Woman gives birth on roadside, and marches on for 160km https://t.co/6lNqAkecKR via @TOICitiesNews pic.twitter.com/OxAjsKnL5C
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) May 10, 2020
8. This migrant worker pulled a bullock cart himself, after one of the bulls died, to reach his hometown in Indore amid the lockdown.
9. Thousands of migrant workers gathered at Anand Vihar bus station in Delhi, desperately wanting to leave the city but, there were only a handful of buses that were organised for their return.
This seems like a scene of partition where crowd of thousands gathered at one place to leave the city. No this pic was taken at Anand Vihar bus station. Workers, labour n employees leaving the city, following #CoronaLockdown
— Urooj Khan (@mynameisurooj) March 28, 2020
Alarming situation at Anand Vihar bus station in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/RZCjkc6UaL
10. 18 labourers were found crammed inside a cement mixer truck by the police in Indore. All they wanted was to return home from Maharashtra to Lucknow.
#WATCH 18 people found travelling in the mixer tank of a concrete mixer truck by police in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. DSP Umakant Chaudhary says, “They were travelling from Maharashtra to Lucknow. The truck has been sent to a police station & an FIR has been registered”. pic.twitter.com/SfsvS0EOCW
— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2020
11. Migrant labourers were allegedly overcharged for the train tickets to return home by special Shramik trains. Those travelling from Surat to U.P were charged 800 against a ticket worth 630.
Charged Rs 800 for a Rs 630 Ticket, Say Migrant Workers Who Took Special Trains From Surat to UP
— Jagrity Sablok (@jagritysablok1) May 9, 2020
Contrary to claims that the migrants are not being asked to pay train fares, the labourers were not just made to bear the cost of travel but also overcharged.https://t.co/XmTrG5c56t
12. In the absence of buses, these migrant workers from Etawah are risking their own lives and sitting on top of tankers and trucks to get back home.
In absence of buses the migrant workers are taking any transport that is available to them. Even if it means travelling stuffed in a truck or risking their lives on top of a tanker. Pics from Etawah. pic.twitter.com/tlN9N9XcOV
— हैदर حیدر Haidar Naqvi🇮🇳 (@haidarpur) March 29, 2020
And, these are just a few instances that we’ve complied in this article. There are many more.
These images will haunt us till the end of our lives.