HomeNewsIndian state halts trains to keep migrant workers on the job

Indian state halts trains to keep migrant workers on the job

An Indian state on May 6 halted trains taking stranded migrant laborers home so that work on construction sites could restart, a move widely condemned as amounting to forced labor.

Authorities in the relatively prosperous southern state of Karnataka cancelled 10 trains for migrant workers as the chief minister appealed to them to stay, saying construction projects halted due to a coronavirus lockdown would resume.

Many of India’s estimated 100 million migrant workers were left stranded with no food, shelter or income when the government imposed the world’s biggest lockdown to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus in the country of 1.3 billion.




Some walked long distances home after the lockdown was imposed in late March, but others were hoping to get back to their villages on special buses and trains put on by authorities from last week.

“We registered at the local police station, were promised a ticket to go back home, and now suddenly everything has been cancelled,” electrician Rakesh Kumar Yadav, 22, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from the state capital Bengaluru.

“I have told my contractor that I will not return to work because I am scared of contracting the disease. Right now, I just want to go home,” said Yadav, who is from the eastern state of Bihar.

Antony Raju, a consultant for the charity Cividep which is providing aid to migrant workers in Bengaluru, said the decision was “totally unacceptable”.

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“Most workers want to go back because the last 40 days have been traumatic for them,” he said.

“Besides being scared of contracting the disease and struggling to access aid, they feel stripped of their dignity each time they have to queue up for food.”

Migrant workers stand in a queue to submit documents at a local police station in Mumbai on May 5, so they can travel back to their homes during the nationwide lockdown. (shutterstock.com photo)

‘Elements of compulsion’

Supreme Court advocate Karuna Nundy tweeted that the state government decision had “elements of compulsion” and was prohibited by the constitution.  

In an open letter to the Karnataka government, labor rights campaigners, charities and citizens questioned the decision, which they said was “taken solely to appease the lobby of builders and contractors”.

“Neither migrant workers nor trade unions representing them were consulted,” said the letter.

N Manjunatha Prasad, the state official handling migrant issues, declined to comment. Federal labor ministry officials did not respond to email and telephone calls.

India’s lockdown, now extended until May 17, has taken a toll on the migrant workers who fuel large parts of the economy, from manufacturing to construction. It has triggered an exodus from cities and sparked protests by workers wanting to go home.



Many states have been worried about the “reverse migration” of workers, with builders and manufacturers raising concerns about labor shortage as India eases lockdown restrictions and allows industries to function.

But Yadav is sure that he does not want to work now even if it means forgoing wages his contractor is yet to pay him or the monthly wages of 10,000 Indian rupees he will get if he goes back to work.

“Why should I risk going back to work now. There will be hundreds of us and we are not sure if safety precautions will be there,” he said.

“Besides, when my mother heard that special trains were being run, she told me to board one and come home. Now I don’t know how to explain the situation to her. Life right now seems useless and unfair.”

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