印度的COVID-19戒严部队大批移民workers

[新德里]当Nandlal为我而差事的开朗的年轻人Nandlal打电话说，他和他的妻子和两个小孩的家人正在前往德里以东250多公里的布达恩地区的村庄， 我很惊讶。

那是总理纳伦德拉·莫迪（Narendra Modi）召集的为期三周的国家锁定的第二天新冠肺炎。That meant all train, bus and othertransportservices across the vast sub-continent stood suspended from 25 March until 14 April — as also all shops, businesses and institutions.

南德拉尔说：“我们正步行到布达恩，应该在几天之内到达那里。”“房东驱逐了我们和我的日常工作的汽车研讨会。”Nandlal的困境由印度的2亿内部分享移民工人。Uncertain of their future incitiesand facing starvation, they were left with no option but to return to the distant villages they had abandoned in search of urban pastures.

“ 200万移民工人的数量不是很少，他们为城市的经济做出了巨大贡献 - 大约有时间，他们是否获得了合理的交易，是否冠状病毒”

A. R. Sindhu，中心印度工会

在印度的大都市中，在突然封锁后，移民工人开始一两天撞上高速公路。平衡小孩的头和肩膀上的行李，勇敢地用他们回家的警棍强行锁定的警察 - 有些高达700公里。

Since Modi’s televised announcement was made just four hours before the midnight lockdown, they had little chance to pick up provisions for the road and had to depend on packets of biscuits distributed by NGOs. By 30 March, at least 25 of the marchers had perished either through exhaustion from walking long distances on the blisteringly hot highways or after being hit by speeding trucks.

很快就显而易见的是，这些数百万的木匠，水管工，电工，厨师，服务员和工厂手不受法律涵盖，以保护其作为雇员或租户的基本权利。官方的关注仅限于阻止他们将高度传染性的Covid-19进入印度的腹地 - 即使这意味着在此过程中用消毒剂喷洒它们。

最高法院请愿书政府to help the stranded workers drew the judicial observation that the panic from the lockdown appeared worse than the virus. The government was forced to admit in court that more than half a million people were on the move, defying the lockdown and walking from the cities to the villages.

As criticism mounted against the failure to anticipate the exodus, the police stopped swinging their batons at the migrant workers and were instead seen distributing food packets. State borders were sealed to stop further movement and officials who had arranged for buses to help the trekkers were placed under suspension.

政府确实在锁定的第二天宣布了一个价值226亿美元的套餐，以支付直接的现金转移和食物的救济，但这受到专家的批评，因为专家对13亿人口的边缘化要求远远远远不超过了要求。无论如何，这些都没有到达移民工人，因为他们没有正确的论文。

直到3月29日，锁定五天，中央政府仍在下令省级政府instructions“停止移民的行动，并为他们提供隔离设施，庇护所，食物等，并确保其房东支付工资和不振动。需要确保其严格的实施”。

“Such instructions are fine but what we would like to see is statutorily enforceable protection for migrant workers and recognition of their basic rights,” says A. R. Sindhu, national secretary of theCentre Indian Trade Unions。“ 200万移民工人的数量不是很少，他们为城市的经济做出了巨大贡献 - 大约有时间，他们是否获得了合理的交易，冠状病毒。”

Nandlal couldn’t say when or if he and his family would return to Delhi. “I am in no hurry to get back.农业my fields is better than a hand-to-mouth existence in the city.”

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Asia & Pacific desk.