For the lakhs of migrant labourers in Hyderabad affected by the lockdown, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao promised 12 kg of free rice and Rs 500 per person every month.
Revenue officials tasked with disbursing the ration and cash have already finished distributing their allotted quotas. However, the ration and cash are over, and tens of thousands of migrants are yet to receive their share. Many of the migrant labourers are those who went unaccounted for by the municipal officials, thus never receiving the relief from the state in the first place.
On March 30, KCR had said, "Don't make desperate attempts to leave Telangana to reach your native places. You have come (to Telangana) for the state's progress and to serve Telangana and hence we see you as a family member. You are the partners in the development of this state. We will treat you as our brothers and children. We will take care of you.” The video of his speech had gone viral, and the Chief Minister received much praise.
However, at the Kompally camp near Big Bazar, Hussain, who hails from Assam, has been unable to access the ration because he does not have an Aadhaar card. The five other migrant workers he lives with have not been able to access ration too.
Walking to the ration shops and distribution points proved bad for most migrant workers, with the police resorting to lathi charge. Many returned empty-handed. Those who made it to the municipal office faced long queues. And even some of those who stood in lines had to return empty-handed when officials ran out of supplies.
Twice in two days, Ujjain Kumar went to the distribution centre located a few kilometres away from his shack at his construction site to collect ration. However, he failed both times.
“Municipality officials called us there, but when we went there, they told us to come next morning. The next day, some 500 people were there. Two queues for men, one queue for women. I stood in line for one-two hours, then, the police came and began thrashing people. They didn’t even ask why we are standing there,” Ujjain says.
Meanwhile, though Telangana had extended lockdown in the state to April 30 earlier, Prime Minister Modi announced in his address on Tuesday that the nationwide lockdown will be in place till May 3.
Not everyone gets ration
Despite the Telangana Chief Minister stating that each migrant worker will get ration and cash benefit, only one member from the family is reportedly being given ration. The women are allegedly turned away, with officials saying only the male members of the family are eligible to receive supplies.
On March 31, at Kompally under the Medchal–Malkajgiri district, which falls within the Hyderabad city limits, over 500 migrant labourers waited in queues for hours. The revenue officials handling the distributions were given a list of 3,058 persons prepared by the Kompally municipal officials, and only those on the list were to be given rations. But many who stood in the queue were not on the list. They were turned away, despite holding an Aadhaar card, which is used to cross-check if the person has been issued a ration card in Hyderabad.
Ujjain Kumar was one of the people who stood in line that day, but could not manage to get ration. The 50 other families at his camp, who hail from Chhattisgarh, have not been paid wages since March 23. They are surviving on the assistance they received from the building contractor who employed them.
“The (contractor) company people helped how much ever they could. They gave us four kilograms of rice, of which some is left,” says Kumar. Many eagerly wait for the NGOs that are delivering cooked food.
Naveen Ramisetti, a volunteer helping the migrant workers and assisting them with rations at Kompally, says, “Many of the workers are harassed on their way to collect the rations. The check post they have to cross is on the highway, where a lot of people are walking on foot to cross the state. The police turn aggressive due to the overcrowding at the checkpoint, so these workers have to turn back.” Naveen added that it’s not an easy task for them to even access the distribution points due to the lockdown.
What the officials say
Speaking about the incident in Kompally, a revenue officer told TNM, “People who were not in the list also came to collect rations. The police got involved when the crowd became unmanageable.”
The police allegedly trashed migrant workers for not maintaining social distance. This came barely a day after Telangana Chief Minister had referred to migrant workers as “state development partners.”
Kompally municipal authorities have prepared a list for the distribution to ration to 863 persons in their mandal. The Kompally municipal officials were unresponsive when TNM reached out to them.
At Serilingampally-Shamshabad area, where a large migrant labourer population resides, the Mandal Revenue Officer (MRO) K Chandrakala has run out of rations and cash after distributing to 19,741 migrant labourers, “We need to provide rations to another 20,000 persons, the collector will make a proposal,” says the MRO, who is now getting calls from the labourers who have run out of supplies that were already provided to them.
Challenges faced by NGOs, volunteers
In the meantime, the gap in supply of rations is being met by volunteers and NGOs that work alongside corporators, municipal officials, traffic personnel and police officials. The state has limited its service to migrant workers to coordinating between NGOs, requesting them to service an area and provide shelter to stranded migrants, apart from rations and cash.
However, the migrant workers have become quite wary of individuals asking if they need help, possibly posing a challenge to NGO workers too.
For instance, a man from Uttar Pradesh on the footpath next to the Parade ground in Hyderabad asked this reporter on Monday noon, “Do you have some food to share?”
When told there was no food, he quietly sat back on the footpath. Another man butted in saying, “We have everything, please go away,” — his eyes darted towards the vacant police checkpoint a few 100 meters away under the Sardar Patel flyover. “There is no problem here,” the man added.
Kiran Vissa, Rythu Swaraj Vedike, told TNM, “They are more afraid of police harassment than getting help from the police. People are not comfortable with random strangers asking questions and offering help. It has been three weeks and they have extended the lockdown further, but on the ground, the distribution of rations to those on the streets remains unaddressed.”
To feed migrant labourers in pockets scattered across the city, the Hyderabad Police have allowed volunteer groups to distribute cooked food and rations, and a pass is issued on a need basis. The network of volunteers and NGOs is crowdfunded or self-funded, which is not sustainable in the long run, points out Kiran, adding that not all migrant workers are able to reach out for help.
“The state needs to adopt the Delhi approach of a token system where people can register online based on their need, rather than relying on a network of NGOs who are running around tracing those who need help. When we get a call saying they need food for 15 families, we reach there to find there are 100 families in need of food. This happened at Farook Nagar colony near Uppal bus stand,” says Kiran.
This Centre, meanwhile, has also said the contractors who hire migrant workers, are responsible for their food and accommodation as well. “This sounds good on paper but in reality, the companies not providing food and accommodation are facing legal action. This approach again impacts the migrant worker as they get harassed for reporting. The policy doesn’t help them,” adds Kiran.