Livelihoods: A survey conducted by the Stranded Workers Action Network (SWAN)—a group of volunteers set up in 2020 to provide aid to migrant workers—has shown that 81 percent of migrant workers interviewed had no work on account of the local lockdowns in various states.
Moreover, they did not have work for an average of 19 days and only 18 percent had received any money from their employer after work stopped.
These insights were drawn from a survey conducted by SWAN with 51 groups of workers comprising about 300 people, as well as 91 workers who were also interviewed last year. The workers were from across the country but most belonged to states such as Delhi, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh.
“Our initiative this past week has documented only a section of the distress of migrant workers and extended only a fraction of the support they need,” SWAN said. “However, we hope that in sharing their experience and continuing to collate their needs, we will be able to amplify their experiences of the lockdown and make the urgent case for supporting them in their hour of need.”
The voluntary body has recommended that the government mandate that all employers pay wages to all their contractors and workers, even during lockdowns and curfews. It also suggested giving a compensation of INR 7,000 for the next three months to all migrant workers and priority households (as categorised by the state governments).
Read this article to understand what can be done to make the labour systems work.