It was 8 pm on Sunday, April 26. Amid sweltering heat, around 10 migrant workers, visibly tired and thirsty, stopped along National Highway 44 in Telangana to look out for a truck or any vehicle that could ferry them.
All of them are from Kanpur district in Uttar Pradesh, aged between 25 and 40 years. They, along with 25 others, come to Karimnagar in Telangana every summer to make a living by selling ice-cream for two months. This year, however, things are different as they were left stranded with no means of income, shortly after arriving in the state.
Amid the lockdown, eager to go back home, they began walking on Sunday morning after breakfast. Within a period of two mornings and two nights, they have managed to walk about 120 km.
After a brief introduction, two of them reluctantly agree to speak. Raj Kumar says, “We are heading to villages in Kanpur. We have to go either way no matter how long it takes. But if someone gives us lift, it will take us three days.”
Speaking about the difficulty of their journey, he says, “Food is being given to us by someone. Police gave us food as we were coming. They want us to stay back here but, how can we? We don't know what will happen.”
According to Bhavin Bhalodi, an activist from Karimnagar who is reaching out to migrants with food and essentials, there is serious psychological distress among them.
Bhavin has been providing them food and essentials since the beginning of the lockdown. He says, “The government has given 12 kg of rice and other essentials to all of them. I learnt that 12 of them have left despite appeals from their mates.”
He adds that counselling is not working as they are under fear and uncertain about the future.
There have been several reports about thousands of migrants dangerously walking back to their homes and native places in states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, and Jharkhand, along the highways and railway tracks. Even a month after the lockdown, while the instances may have come down, it has not stopped.
Earlier this week, as many as 10 labourers tried to leave for Nanded in Maharashtra from the government shelter home in Nagireddypet of Kamareddy district.
A Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) rank officer said, “We are giving them counselling besides food and groceries, but they are desperate to go back to their native places.”
Officials on the ground say that the workers' rush to go home is more psychological, than anything else, as they miss their families.
In most cases, migrants, irrespective of the state they are from, are small-scale farmers or agricultural labourers who are forced to move to urban spaces in search of a livelihood.
For example, the ice-cream sellers say that each of them make between Rs 40,000 and Rs 50,000 during their stint in Karimnagar by manufacturing and selling ice-creams, which they will invest in agriculture when they return before the onset of monsoon.
Around 50 construction workers, who work as whole families, were walking to Nagpur from Hyderabad earlier this week. They told this reporter that they want to head back to their villages.
A woman labourer with a toddler in her arms asks, “When there is no work, how can we be here? Our families are also waiting for us. We don't know what will happen.”
Ramesh Daru and his brother came to Hyderabad to work as construction workers from Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh. While Ramesh is a mason, his wife and two others work as helpers. Each of them used to make around Rs 400-700, according to Ramesh. Living without work has become tough and he sees the situation worsening. Ramesh’s family decided to return home by any means; they started walking by carrying their toddlers on their shoulders.
When asked if they want to stay if they're given shelter, Ramesh says, “We can't be held back, we will go to our village and do daily wage there itself in agriculture.”
Durgesh Kumar, his wife and his brother Naresh hail from Betul district in Madhya Pradesh. They came to Hyderabad to work as security guards in a private firm six months ago. Durgesh says that three of them were making Rs 12,000 each per month.
When asked about how long he has to travel or walk, Durgesh, looking at Google Maps on his phone, says, “It's showing 500 km from here, it might take three to four days of walking; but we can go in one or two days if we get a lift from a truck.”
He adds, “Things are not going well. We are getting calls each day, they want us to come back.”
Telangana is the first state to announce welfare measures for migrant labourers. It has offered Rs 1,500 per family and Rs 500 per individual, besides providing 12 kg rice and other essentials.
All states, in a move to contain the spread of COVID-19, have barred interstate movement of labourers. To avoid scrutiny, labourers have been taking less-policed pathways and railway tracks to travel. Especially near the borders between states, they get off the highway and take an arduous detour to cross the border, even if it means walking for much longer.
Many of them have also heard stories of other labourers who have reached home.
However, it is reported that local authorities in their native places are quarantining them as they reach, per protocol, before they are allowed to go home.
Those working in rural affairs state that it was policies of successive governments that have led to the destruction of the rural economy, forcing the dwellers to go to urban areas in search of livelihoods.
Dr Y Ramana Reddy, Professor and Head, Centre for Livelihoods at the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) Hyderabad says that the state governments should explore other options, to transport migrant workers back home.
He suggests, “It's a very natural, human instinct to think about families and native places, especially in times of crisis. They can't be stopped by force. Instead, governments should explore the option of first providing them medical care and counselling and later, arranging transport, without compromising on COVID-19 precautionary measures.
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