Impact of Lockdown on The Common Man of India

The coronavirus infection has been spreading more as there are more cases being reported. This constrained the Government for a complete lockdown of 75 districts of the country. The worst affected states being Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Kerala, and NCT of Delhi.

There have been many questions arisen by the people about the virus and how the common man will be able to live during the lockdown and quarantine period. Living in the metro cities of India the middle-class families has been capable of taking care of themselves, strictly adhering to the rules stated by the government and taking proper precautions and safety measures.

But what about the lower class and poor families, the men and women who are migrants and are dependent on daily wages? They are suffering the most during this period. Even after orders from the government to all sectors of the economy to pay the daily wage workers their salaries even if work has been stopped, still the migrants have not received their pay. There are some employers who have made facilities for the laborers and their families of food stay, and everything but most laborers is being forced to go back to their villages as this is the only option left for them to survive.

India during the 3 months lockdown period has seen news flashed and updates of a major migrant exodus that was compared to the partition of India. Many laborers were told by their employers to leave the city or look for work elsewhere because they couldn’t make available the basic facilities for their daily wage workers. They started their journey on foot and have been walking for days and hours to pass with no food or water.

The women working as domestic helpers still had a bit of relief because their employers would pay them their monthly salaries. But even in this case many women working as house helpers living in NCR regions of Delhi were denied their salaries and were given an answer by their employers that you haven’t worked so why shall we pay you. Poor families have been suffering this brutal torture of lockdown.

During this mass exodus, many people died due to the heat walking for hours without any food or water, many were injured and many who did get some commute were forced to pay a hefty amount to the public transport drivers like autos who left them midway and the laborers were forced to walk several kilometers. Many of these migrants have decided never to return to the cities and some are ready to return but only when the situation eases a bit which is unlikely at least this year. The mass exodus of migrants had created even more havoc amongst the citizens of the spread of viruses from anywhere because in order to get back to their hometowns the migrants hoarded and crowded near the metro, railway station and bus stands to receive them to reach their final destinations.

The government heard the pleas and distress of the poor population and made vast arrangements ranging from providing shelters in which they converted government school into home shelters, made provisions for food, and then passed orders to allow movement of railways. At this moment the government is trying to make things possible by going beyond its limits to provide everything that can ease the lives of the migrants and laborers but there is an equal amount of fear of the spread of viruses furthermore which is what the government is trying to avoid.

But even these migrants and their families don’t have any choice but to start on a long journey to their villages because they also need money, food, water, and shelter. The migrants will have to experience such days in their lives even they hadn’t thought about this in their dreams. The worst problem being faced by them is that they are unable to provide anything for their families, which has forced them to transfer themselves back to their towns and villages.

The migrants had come along with their families in search of better jobs and dreamt of good fortunes for their children. But they never realized that this pandemic would force them to go back to their original places. It has been in the news lately that many factories will be resuming their work-life but the migrants are unaware of it or have not been contacted by the employers about the same.

We are all hopeful that everything will be fine soon and get back to normal. Each one of us will have to live with this infection and keep moving with our normal life routine. The most amazing part has been that during the lockdown there were many college students, NGOs, and of course the Sikh community who’ve extended their hands and support in providing groceries and food to the migrants and their families.

When everyone is going through the same situation and trying to fight this pandemic there have been many people who have come together to help in surviving during this outbreak. The revolt of the poor people is also right because the government is not entirely reaching out to help them.

In the end, I would want to say that it’s a global virus spread that has not sparred anything. We are all in it together and if during this time we are not thinking about being each other’s support system and not trying to help other people in dealing with this situation they will think that humanity has died. We have to work together to uplift the Indian economy that also includes poor people. In the end, this virus never saw the kind of people it was attacking it just came and has destroyed everything only to teach us a lesson that we should and need to learn how to value everything and everyone living on this planet.