Watch: One Man Is on a Fast Unto Death to Highlight the Plight of Migrant Workers

Name: Watch: One Man Is on a Fast Unto Death to Highlight the Plight of Migrant Workers - The Wire
Uploaded: 2020-05-11T14:19:58+05:30
Channel: The Wire
Description: 'The lakhs of people on the street, who are moving with their young children on empty stomachs, why is their voice not reaching the government?:

'The lakhs of people on the street, who are moving with their young children on empty stomachs, why is their voice not reaching the government?:

Shekhar Tiwari

'The lakhs of people on the street, who are moving with their young children on empty stomachs, why is their voice not reaching the government?:

watch one man is on a fast unto death to highlight the plight of migrant workers

Praveen Kashi. Photo: Shekhar Tiwari

New Delhi: In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the national lockdown imposed to curb its spread, migrant labourers have been stranded across the country and are facing a variety of crises.

In several areas, they are not getting enough food or living in precarious and hazardous conditions. Many have lost their lives as they tried to make their way home from the urban areas where they were left without work. Both Central and state governments have been accused of not doing enough to alleviate their plight.

Distressed by this neglect, social worker Praveen Kashi sat on a fast unto death at Rajghat, Mahatma Gandhi's memorial. He has three demands: providing protective equipment to workers to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, including masks and sanitisers; providing proper rations and food; and granting Rs 250 per day as compensation to all those who are unemployed.

When The Wire went to meet Kashi, we also came across hundreds of migrant labourers who had been stopped on Delhi's Yamuna Bridge, Vikas Marg. They talked about their desperation to get home, and their fears and anxieties about their uncertain future.

"Why are migrants workers travelling from here to there? It's because they are not being given adequate food and shelter where they are," Kashi told The Wire. "The pandemic is leading to all sorts of extraneous issues – people don't have food, access the medical care for other health issues is limited."

"The lakhs of people on the street, who are moving with their young children on empty stomachs, why is their voice not reaching the government? There are others in this country who have more than enough food to eat, who have a good amount of wealth. But why aren't we thinking about those who need their daily earnings to survive?"

Soon after The Wire's report was first published on YouTube, police from the Daryaganj station went to Rajghat and picked up Kashi, saying he was not allowed to sit in protest. Kashi, however, says he will continue his struggle until the migrants get their due.

This article went live on May eleventh, two thousand twenty, at nineteen minutes past two in the afternoon.

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