Coronavirus: Mass Return to Villages Put India’s Measures at Risk
Hundreds of thousands of migrant labourers in India have potentially lost their jobs and livelihoods as construction sites and factories closed amid the countrywide lockdown.
There were concerns in recent days that without a reliable job, thousands of these labourers would head back to their hometowns on food — potentially undermining the lockdown.
As many migrant workers set out to walk to their villages hundreds of kilometres away from the cities they work in, the local governments of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have arranged buses for them to head home despite fears of the coronavirus.
A tweet from the office of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, released Saturday evening, said 1,000 public and private buses had been deployed.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal confirmed on Saturday on his official Twitter account that buses have been arranged but urged people to stay home.
At 400,000, Indan expats form the largest community of expats in Bahrain. Many have been working from home, others have had to shutter shops because of the commercial shops’ temporary closure, and many are facing dire financial crunches. However, when compared to the sad state of migrant workers in India, Indian migrants in Bahrain are well protected from the coronavirus and to an extent, its economic impact.
