Vote bank? Nor really

This is in reference to the excellent article, “Lockdown-hit workers could test Modi’s mettle” by Bibhudatta Pradhan and Sudhi Ranjan Sen.  The movement of migrant workers could have been handled with more sensitivity and empathy through intelligent planning and foresight. India has about 80 million to 100 million migrant workers. The sudden lockdown, at four hours’ notice gave them no time to plan their lives. Their places of work were shut. The unorganised industries where they worked would not be able to pay them. Many migrant who work as hawkers, plumber, electricians, etc, were suddenly out of work. PM Modi had told everyone to stay put wherever they were. However many migrant labourers lived in small rooms, sometimes eight to ten people in a room of 100 square feet. They had no money or food to eat.

Migrant workers then started the painful journey of walking back to their villages, sometimes a distance of 200 to 1,200 kilometres, from the cities, Many died on the way due to hunger and exhaustion. The Indian and foreign media focussed on their dire plight. There were gut-punching incidents, a child tugging at the tunic of a dead mother, people being mowed down by a train on the rail tracks as they rested on the walk home, youngsters fighting for food, etc.  Then, some of the state governments organised trains to ferry stranded workers home.

The fact is that these migrant workers have been reduced to marginal citizens. The lost their livelihoods at four hours’ notice. Then, they walked thousands of kilometres to their villages. Now, even if they are embittered by the experiences, they may have to return to the cities to feed themselves after the pandemic.

Political parties need not be very worried about their votes. Migrant workers are registered to vote in their villages. Work drags them to the cities. Migrant workers do not go back to their villages to vote. They skip elections. They constitute about seven per cent of India’s population. So they are not very relevant in the electoral algorithms. In any case, they do not have the opportunity to vote, in the places where they work.  So the pain and anguish of the migrant workers, will never surface through the ballot box. This is sad.

Rajendra Aneja — Mumbai, India