India coronavirus: migrant workers returning to cities confront grim reality of lockdown
- India is approaching 3 million coronavirus infections. Accordingly, local and regional governments have been reluctant to allow normal business to resume
- It means many workers face a dire choice between life in their villages and hometowns where there are few jobs and eking out an income in bigger cities
After the restrictions cut his salary in half, it became impossible for Khaled and his family to pay for rent and food. So in June he and his wife packed their bags and returned to his hometown, Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, which is known for its leather goods manufacturing industry. Khaled hoped to make a fresh start but his plans unravelled after he arrived and found many factories that closed during the lockdown had sacked most of their workers.
Starved of opportunity, he decided last month to move back to Mumbai, where he returned to work for his former employer. He now works five days a week at the Dharavi factory – for less than half his previous salary. He also drives an Uber two days a week in 10-hour shifts.
“I can barely make ends meet,” he says. “These two jobs still don’t help me make as much money as I did before the pandemic.”
The government imposed the lockdown with about four hours’ notice. Businesses shut down, commodity chains collapsed and economic activity ground to a halt. The country’s 400 million informal workers were hardest hit. Most of them earned daily wages in jobs with no security or welfare benefits. Many have not been paid since March, forcing them to depend on charity or government aid.