Once again, Delhi migrant workers are heading to their native villages amid the Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic. After the recently imposed night curfew in Delhi, many migrant workers are fearing a lockdown and are heading back to their native villages.
In 2020, when the first nationwide lockdown was imposed, many migrants were stuck in cities with no job, no food and shelter. Due to starvation many even lost their lives. They started walking to their native villages, until the Government of India (GoI) began special shramik trains to help these migrants.
These migrants who later came back for work from their native places are fearing they would be facing a similar situation again.
Speaking to the media, a migrant worker named Pintu, who sells dry fruits at Anand Vihar Bus Terminal said, “Delhi is witnessing a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases. Due to this, a night curfew has been imposed in the city. It is very likely that the Government will impose a lockdown soon. Hence, I along with my family are going back to Jharkhand.”
Parmila Devi, a tea seller said, ”My family and I are going back to our village in Jharkhand. We want to avoid a situation like the previous lockdown. It is very likely that a lockdown will be put due to COVID-19. We will come back when the situation normalises.”
Another woman who was planning to go to Bihar said, “Had got stuck here during the lockdown, want to avoid any such situation again. It’s better to go home for now.”
Malti Devi, another migrant said, “Last time, a few people in my family were forced to stay back in Delhi (including me) as there was no transport available. We all wanted to go back to our village in Jharkhand. The buses were all occupied. To avoid such a situation now, it is better for us to go back.”
Sunil Gupta, a student who came to study in Delhi for his exams said, “I am planning to go back to my hometown now. It is likely that a lockdown will be imposed in Delhi.”
The night curfew in the National Capital is from 10:00 P.M., to 5:00 A.M. The orders were imposed with immediate effect till the 30th of April.
According to sources, Delhi is witnessing more than 5,000 new COVID-19 cases. A total of 220 cases were registered in Delhi against the violators of the night curfew guidelines on the first night of curfew, starting from the 6th of April.
Due to the rise in the Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19 cases, many states and cities are imposing strict COVID-19 restrictions. Delhi recently imposed night curfew, Ahmedabad also imposed weekend lockdown and night curfew, Maharashtra announced complete lockdown and Bengaluru also imposed curfews.
Meanwhile, highlighting the situation of COVID-19 in India, the nation is the third worst COVID-19 hit nation, after the United States of America (U.S.A.) and Brazil. As of now, India has 8,43,473 active cases of COVID-19.
The recovery rate of India also dropped to 92 % from the previous 95 %.
The Union Health Ministry is asking people to follow all the COVID-19 guidelines and avoid public spaces and crowd gathering. They are even asked to follow protocols like wearing face masks, sanitization and maintaining social distancing.
