To leave or not to leave? Lockdown, migrant workers, and their journeys home

On March 25, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown to stem the spread of Covid-19. Two days later, on March 27, volunteers associated with the Right to Food Campaign (a network of individuals and organisations in India) and the Samaj Parivartan Shakti Sangathan (an organisation that works on accessing government programmes in Muzaffarpur, Bihar) formed the Stranded Workers Action Network (SWAN) to respond to distress calls from migrant workers in different parts of India.SWAN’s first report, 21 Days and Counting, which was released on April 15, documents information collected from the calls of 640 groups of 11,159 stranded workers. Their second report, 32 Days and Counting, was released on May 1 with data on 1,531 groups of 16,863 stranded workers. To leave or not to leave? Lockdown, migrant workers, and their journeys home is SWAN’s third report, based on interactions with about 34,000 workers by June 5, 2020.This third report notes that many migrant workers preferred to return home due to a lack of cash, food and income security during the lockdown. The report discusses court judgements and decisions by central and state governments on the distress of migrant workers, problems faced by workers during their journeys home and data collected through SWAN’s helpline. The report also contains letters written by SWAN to government officials containing recommendations for travel and other arrangements for migrant workers.