14, Aug 2021 | Mohammed Ripon Sheikh

“There is not a single paisa in my hand,” is something I have heard often when talking to people living in rural Bengal. However, it shook me when Samil Sheikh, a labourer who had returned home from Ranchi told me he had “tied a towel” on his stomach to curb his hunger pangs. “The young and old are all spending their days in uncertainty at home.

“I beg you all to think about us,” said Sheikh. He is among the many daily-wage labourers who have lost their jobs in the cities across India and returned home to the village amidst the Covid-19 induced lockdown.

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Once back home, Sheikh decided to make his living by farming in the plot of land near his house in the village. His wife and children go to the forest to collect wood and sometimes they all fish in the river, as it too is a small source of income whenever it rains well. However, the ‘lockdown curse’ continues to haunt the residents of Murarai-2 block area of Birbhum district.

The lockdown shut down avenues of earning a living. Families can’t survive by just collecting fuel wood or making fishing nets, they say. The small amount of rice that comes from the ration is just enough to put the pot in the oven, but not to fill the stomach three times a day. Many just spend their days dealing with dread and anxiety.

Nur Alam Sheikh worked in Chennai returned home fearring that he will be stranded in the prolonged lockdown. There was also the fear of Covid-19 itself as he had heard “death due to Corona is terrible.” Better to be poor and alive, he thought, as he always knew that an income like Chennai would be impossible to earn in the village. In Chennai he worked as a mason and earned a daily wage of Rs. 600. Now back in the Ganj (Village), a small daily job may not even get him Rs. 200 a day. He heads a family of five and is responsible for his son, daughter, wife and mother. Sometimes Sheikh eats half a meal, and on many days he just starves.

Last year, when the first lockdown was announced, Sheikh recalled that he walked 450 km back from the factory he worked at. This year, he did not want to make the same mistake and came back to the village before everything was closed again.

Hunger is a constant companion of many in his village. But Sheikh says he is glad he is at home. Even if he dies of starvation in the village, his “funeral may be conducted with honor,” is what he feels. He says if he had died of Covid-19 in Chennai city, his family would be alone and suffering. His pale face looks pained when he says, “Even if I don’t get to eat in the village, I will die in peace.”

Many migrant workers have suffered the same fate during the state’s announcement of the lockdown and continue so suffering in the aftermath. Losing jobs, not getting paid, leaving for home again, is the common thread in conversations here. They have other worries too. “We, the migrant workers, cannot afford to buy mobile phones for our children to study online. It is very difficult to think that if this continues, in the future our sons and daughters may become migrant workers,” said one.

Meanwhile, the Centre’s economic survey report states that the number of migrant workers in the country is about 100 million. Most of them from this area, worked in brick kilns, the construction industry, mining industry, tea garden industry in some small-scale industries as well. Unorganised workers are 90 percent of the total workers in the country, and 85 percent of those unorganised workers are migrant workers.

According to the organisation, the minimum wage does not match the organised workers, does not match the job security, and does not match any social security. The number of workers in the unorganised sector has further increased due to the lockdown. Although there has been a labor law for migrant workers in the country since 1989, the workers do not seem to know of it, leave alone get any benefit from it.

According to the workers’ union, the issue of protection of migrant workers has been discussed many times in the national draft policy. The government has been asked to allocate money for their protection. However, issues of social security of migrant workers have remained neglected.

This report is part of CJP’s Grassroots Fellowship Program, and has been written by researcher Ripon Sheikh, who is travelling around rural Bengal, tracking and documenting social and cultural movements of migrant workers and indigenous people.

Meet CJP Grassroot Fellow Mohammed Ripon Sheikh

This young man, who has graduated with a B.Sc degree from Burdwan University, loves trivia. Sheikh’s passion to research and seek “unknown information about World History” has earned him many medals and trophies at various University and state-level Quiz championships, and youth festivals. Sheikh is a born orator and a natural community leader. He has the potential to represent his community, state and country at a global level one day. His immediate goal, however, is to find a job so he can support his parents.

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