Migrant informal workers in times of lockdown

Posted on : March 23, 2020
Author : AGA Admin

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As 75 districts and metropolitan areas goes under lockdown from the 23 rd of March, India grapples with fear arising from the COVID-19 the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, which has affected populations across the world. Globally there are more than 13,000 deaths. The virus originated in Wuhan, in the Hubei province of China in early December, 2019. The disease spreads from person to person contact and the Chinese government took some drastic measures to slow down the spread of disease by limiting person to person contact. The government ordered shops, offices, parks, zoos, public transport and other public spaces to close and people were ordered to stay at their homes.

 

What is social distancing, and why lockdowns?

 

A new study from the Imperial College of London COVID-19 response team suggests that lockdowns would necessarily reduce reproduction of the virus – that is reducing the number of people getting affected from confirmed cases. The healthcare system of every country has its own limits – from the number of hospital beds available per 1000 of the population to the number of medical equipment and healthcare professionals. If lots of people get affected at once then it would certainly overwhelm the capacity of the health system. This would lead to avoidable deaths – that is if the hospitals are full and new cases continue to appear, the new cases will not receive any healthcare which would lead to a greater number of deaths. Many real and hypothetical models have suggested that social distancing and lockdowns are proven ways to slow down and probably end a pandemic.

 

What about the economy, the employed population?

 

Economists and government officials around the world are fearing a global recession amidst this crisis as the core economic countries goes under severe lockdown. People are not going to work as they are ordered to stay at home and follow social distancing. The richest countries have pumped unprecedented aid into the global economy as Europe and the USA collapses under the rising number of cases with each passing day. People are also ordered to work from home in many countries and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India also announced social distancing and advised many to work from home. However, in a country like India where the majority of the population are employed in the informal sector this advice comes with grave ambiguity about their future.

 

The migrant informal workers

 

According to the State of World Population Report published by the United Nations Population Fund more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. Urbanisation in India has grown from 27.81% in 2001 to 31.16% in 2011. The massive urbanisation of the population is a part of the population growth and the massive migration from rural to urban areas due to poverty. The 2011 census states that the total number of internal migrants (inter and intra state movement of people) stands at 139 million. Although the government has ramped up urbanisation as it launched the “100 smart cities mission” the poor and the marginalised are left out of the positive externalities, while the large chunk of seasonal migrant workers face the most of the brunt. These migrant workers often face acute poverty  in the urban areas of India and mostly depend on daily wages. The labour laws of India over the years have systematically excluded the informal sector with little or no social security available to them. As a result, they do not get any job security, healthcare benefits and fixed wages. In the city of Kolkata for example large numbers of temporary shops are always seen besides public hubs.Countless people work and run these temporary food stalls and small consumer items beside places like the Sealdah and Howrah station in Kolkata. The Indian Railway has cancelled all trains starting from the 23 rd of March, 2020 till 31 st of March, 2020. People who work here live in sub-urban, or rural areas mostly. Many also live in the city itself in slums. They depend on their daily earnings. In a time like this where there will be no people outside on the streets the shop owners and the workers will face much difficulty. Construction work and people who carry goods especially in wholesale markets like Burrabazar will also face the same shortages as these markets are closed. People associated with the transport sector (excluding the State-owned transport services) are also informal workers, ranging from repairmen and drivers of buses. During the lockdown as all transport services are suspended it is also expected that they will face acute shortages of finances which will make their living very difficult during this time.

 

As India goes under a complete lockdown the workers face the fear of losing jobs, and failure to earn an income. A lockdown is surely necessary and when the virus will subside and as the workers will start migrating back to the cities to find jobs, I feel there will be a huge number of job losses. Even during the lockdown, the safety, healthcare, sanitation and food requirements of these workers should be taken into account and subsequent State intervention is needed.

 

As I write this article sitting in my home and many will work in the upcoming weeks sitting at their home the informal sector will suffer the most. The importance of the informal sector must be understood and emphasized as they are the essential backbone of the formal sector.

 

Manish Dutta

Intern, AGA

 

 

References

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