New Delhi: A group of hawkers, sex workers, domestic workers, rescued bonded laborers and other unorganized workers gathered in New Delhi to demand the government fulfill the promises made during the pandemic.

The March 18 demonstration at Jantar Mantar took place a week before the first anniversary of the lockdown imposed nationwide to curb the spread of Covid-19, setting off a crisis for migrant workers.

“Sex workers had no resources to survive the lockdown as they live on daily earnings,” said Kusum of the All-India Network of Sex Workers at the protest organized by the Working People’s Charter.

“The government sent food to schools, but they didn’t see that workers lived several kilometers away. As long as we are dying of hunger, there is no Atmanirbhar Bharat. How can I say my country is great?” she asked.

Kusum said migrant workers were unable to access many of the government’s schemes for lack of documents. She demanded a one-time income support of 10,000 rupees for all unorganized workers.

Bonded labor

Nitin Kumar, a resident of Muzaffarnagar who had been working as a laborer in Haridwar, said he, along with others from his village, were left without any income in 2020 as their employer refused to pay them their pending dues when the lockdown was imposed.

After having walked home in the early days of the pandemic, he said the group made its way to Rajpura in Punjab after the lockdown was lifted to work in a brick unit. There, he said, the group was once again pushed into bonded labor till an NGO came to their rescue after four-and-a-half-months.

“We were forced to take loans to survive. We would only get 1,000 rupees every 25 days from the employer. But, we had no choice, as we could not find any other work. When we left, I was owed at least 25,000 rupees,” he said.

Another worker from Muzaffarnagar, Sharmila, said she had taken 20,000 rupees as loan from local money lenders and had no way of paying back. “We received no help from the government. All that workers want is work. But there was no work,” she said.

Pushpa Devi, a resident of the homeless shelter near Bangla Sahib Gurdwara in Delhi, said workers only wanted “our rights” and dignity. “When the lockdown was announced, we were treated like animals. The food we were given made us fall ill,” she said.

Policy for workers

Chandan Kumar, national coordinator of the Working Peoples’ Charter, said the condition of the working poor was “alarming.” Though the NITI Aayog had come up with a draft policy for migrant workers, it was yet to be notified and implemented. He said the federal government must allocate funds to implement the policy immediately.

Nirmal Agni, general secretary of Bandhua Mukti Morcha (Bonded Labor Liberation Front), said workers would come together to protest on the eve of the lockdown anniversary, on March 23, if the government failed to implement the policy.

After the protest, the workers sent a memorandum to Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, demanding implementation of the migrant workers’ policy, recognition of sex work and domestic work, end to evictions from slums, construction of workers’ hostels in all districts and registration of all migrant workers.

Source: thehindu.com