Despite several such instances being reported by several media houses, the Union government told the Parliament on Monday that there was no data available on the deaths of migrant workers during the lockdown. The Union Labour Ministry was responding to a question by BJD member Bhartruhari Mahtab about migrant deaths in the Parliament and the compensation for such families, and said that since there was no data available, the question of compensation does not arise. The government’s written response in the Lok Sabha on the first day of the Monsoon Session has triggered outrage and anger from the opposition parties.
In response to a question about whether thousands of migrant workers have lost their lives due to the sudden announcement of nationwide lockdown, the Union Labour Ministry said that, “ no such data is available.” It further said on the question of whether compensation or relief was provided to families of the deceased that,” Question does not arise in view of the previous question.” The Ministry, however, acknowledged that more than one crore migrant workers travelled back to their home states from various parts of the country.
Lakhs of migrant workers were rendered helpless by the sudden announcement of the nationwide lockdown by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March. Without access to proper food, work or shelter, many began a tough journey back home on foot. The news of many migrants dying before they could reach home had made headlines. Since the government has said there is no data available of such deaths, here are some news reports that had talked about the many instances reported in India:
Responding to the government’s statement in the Parliament, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi, “The Modi government does not know how many migrant workers died in lockdown and how many jobs were lost. If you did not count, so did they not die? Yes, it is sad that this made no impact on the government. The whole world saw their deaths, only the Modi government was not aware of it.”
मोदी सरकार नहीं जानती कि लॉकडाउन में कितने प्रवासी मज़दूर मरे और कितनी नौकरियाँ गयीं।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 15, 2020
तुमने ना गिना तो क्या मौत ना हुई?
हाँ मगर दुख है सरकार पे असर ना हुई,
उनका मरना देखा ज़माने ने,
एक मोदी सरकार है जिसे ख़बर ना हुई।
Calling this ‘utter callousness,’ Finance Minister Thomas Issac tweeted, “Centre doesn’t care about deaths of migrant workers they caused by pushing them in to trains, makeshift carts and on foot to the distant homes. At least acknowledge tentative and incomplete data of rail Sharmik Trains and road accidents.”
Utter callousness- Centre doesn’t care about deaths of migrant workers they caused by pushing them in to trains, makeshift carts and on foot to the distant homes. At least acknowledge tentative and incomplete data of rail Sharmik Trains and road accidents #migrantslivesmatter
— Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) September 15, 2020
MP Abhishek Banerjee, of the All India Trinamool Congress, also tweeted, “Absolutely zilch amount of data with @BJP4India Govt on the countless lives & jobs lost among migrant workers! Turns out that speeches by @narendramodi Ji & his ministers were nothing more than flowery words. Will there ever be an end to your inhumanity?”