About 25 hospitals have been approved to receive the drug, but doctors say it’s not clear how the government is making those decisions.
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Thursday, May 7, 2020
Karnataka govt restarts trains after outrage, but migrant workers are already walking home
Hundreds of migrant workers from states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal decided to start walking home from Bengaluru on Thursday.
The Karnataka government on Thursday decided to restart special trains for migrant workers stranded in the state to be taken back to their native places. However, hundreds of migrant workers in Bengaluru have already begun the long walk home. Shivam Yadav, 30, woke up on Thursday morning with one purpose - to pack his belongings and start walking from Bengaluru to Gorakhpur, a distance of over 2,000 kilometres. "I heard on the news that trains for us (migrant workers ) were cancelled yesterday. Then we decided to start walking and see if we can get a lift at the Andhra Pradesh border,” says Shivam, who works as a painter in Marathahalli in Bengaluru. He had walked 34 km in the afternoon heat before he decided to take rest just beyond Yelahanka. “We filled online forms and everything, when we went to the police station, we found that there was no arrangement. We have paid 100 rupees to buy this form,” Shivam says. Like Shivam, hundreds of migrant workers from states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal decided to start walking from Bengaluru on Thursday. "We don't know when we will reach or if we will find anyone who will give us a lift. But we know that there is no work or food here. So what does a person do then?" asks Upendra Moria, a carpenter from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh. Along the national highway from Bengaluru to Hyderabad, the workers made slow progress through the day, often stopping to catch a break from the blistering heat or to try and hitch a ride from a truck headed their way. Just around the airport station in Yelahanka, some of the workers with Shivam hitched a ride on a truck headed towards Andhra Pradesh. The driver says he was taking an empty truck and was travelling in the same direction the workers were. More migrant workers managed to hitch a ride on this truck transporting sand headed towards the Andhra Pradesh border. Truck driver says, "I saw a lot of people walking along the highway. Out of humanity I want to take them around 70 km on the way I am going " pic.twitter.com/x1pbcxmz3S — Prajwal (@prajwalmanipal) May 7, 2020 Many like Shivam are walking towards Yelahanka in the hopes of hitching rides on goods carriers leaving the city. 28-year-old Amarnath, who works as a carpenter in Bengaluru, is walking with a small group of people towards Uttar Pradesh. “What else can we do but walk? There are no other means for us from here. If there is no ration, nor any work. Yesterday news channels were showing that trains have been cancelled and no migrant has been allowed to leave, so we have decided to walk home. We are trying to hitch a ride from passing-by vehicles,” Amarnath says. “We don’t have any food and water. We are just walking with the clothes on our backs. If the government helps us, if they would have paid us for the past month, that would have been better. We want to go back to our families. We request the government help us go home,” he adds. A carpenter from Bengaluru has set out to walk thousands of kilometres to reach his home in Uttar Pradesh. He is not alone. Hundreds of migrant workers have begun walking towards states like UP, Bihar and Jharkhand. They've heard the news that trains have been cancelled. pic.twitter.com/IHMWmugQbD — Prajwal (@prajwalmanipal) May 7, 2020 A police checkpost is located 200-500m ahead of the Yelahanka airport station. Constables of the Chikkajala police station, who have been posted there, tell TNM that they have been here all morning and around 100 migrant workers have walked up to the spot. Many workers walked from places like Ramamurthy Nagar, Yelahanka and even as far as Ramnagar. Many of them were escorted back to where they came from by the police in a special vehicle arranged for them. But officials at the checkpost say many of them managed to cross the post by climbing onto trucks and taking a different route. "We felt bad looking at so many people coming here walking. They were sent back in autos and police vehicles as they came. They told us stories of how their owners had left them without any help,” Rajesh, one of the constables, says. Ramesh and Rajesh, constables attached to Chikkajala Police Station say they are at a check post set up in Yelahanka. They've met around 100 migrant workers so far who have been sent back to their homes in police vehicles. "Some have gone past in trucks and tempos", they say. pic.twitter.com/PJYEicHNZk — Prajwal (@prajwalmanipal) May 7, 2020 But with owners asking them to vacate their home and the police asking them to go back to where they were, the workers find themselves in a difficult predicament. There are still some workers asking police to allow them to walk past the check post. Listen to Kamlesh Kumar from UP. pic.twitter.com/98A26zgR6P — Prajwal (@prajwalmanipal) May 7, 2020 On Thursday, a video shared by Krishna Byre Gowda, the MLA of Byatarayanapura, showed a group of migrant workers walking home from Bengaluru to Uttar Pradesh in the rain. The video, followed by news that the state had cancelled trains for migrants, had triggered massive outrage. Adding to the outrage was a tweet by Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya, who defended the Karnataka government’s decision to halt the trains. State Govt cancels trains. Thousands of people,in groups of 10/20,are just WALKING TO UP.@CMofKarnataka this is inhuman.They are so disturbed as to walk home,pls don’t force. Some may die.Govt can not be the paid agent of real estate lobby.Send them well so they want to come back pic.twitter.com/pxnxh7ALBH — Krishna Byre Gowda (@krishnabgowda) May 6, 2020 Stoppage of inter-state trains by Sri @BSYBJP is a bold and necessary move. It will help migrant labourers who came here with hopes of a better life to restart their dreams. Also, it will kickstart economic activities full throttle. Karnataka will emerge out of this stronger! — Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) May 6, 2020
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In a migrant settlement in Bengaluru, workers allege cops stop them from stepping out
Workers, from various north Indian states, are unsure of their future in the city and want to leave.
At the migrant settlement in Konanakunte cross in JP Nagar in South Bengaluru, the tension was palpable on Wednesday afternoon. The migrant workers were aware of Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa's decision that they cannot go back to their home state, as the lockdown was on. In the morning, as some of them tried to leave, the police tried to stop them, resulting in a skirmish. To reach the labour colony, one has to pass past a luxurious 41 acre apartment complex. Though the apartment complex was calm, with not too many people moving around, beyond a small corrugated metal gate was the migrant settlement. While the grass in the apartment was green, and freshly tended to, the mud path to the labour colony had burnt rubbish on either sides, covered partially by flowering creepers. Three police vehicles stood outside the gate, and policemen were on standby holding shields and lathis. “Problems happened there, it’s better not to go there,” one policeman warned. As you keep walking, the stench from the waste dumped from the neighbourhood hits you. At the end of the path lies the labour colony consisting of around 200 small hutments, spread out like a slum. A lone Maruti omni ambulance waits under a tree. On stone slabs around the tree, men sat around, watching out for any stranger entering the area. One man took off his shirt to show his bruises. Two red welts on his back and his left bicep are visible. “The police did this,” Pratap says. “The police would not have entered the colony, without permission from the JMC construction company that hired us. How can they beat the workers when we didn’t do anything wrong? All we want to do is go home.” “We want to go home, please help us, we will pay you if you want!” was the continuous demand from all who were around there. The workers say that they are from various states: Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. The workers were agitated that they have not been paid. “Even when the lockdown was announced, we were made to keep on working, but they haven’t paid us for April,” they alleged. One man said that he was angry that he could not send back money to his wife and three children back in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. “What are they supposed to eat? I came here to earn for them, but I myself am struggling.” A representative of the company said that ration was provided for April and Rs 250 per person, but the salaries had not been given. The representative also added that once trains were functional the workers were free to leave. The company refuted allegations that it had asked police to stop the workers from stepping out. “There are around 400 workers here, and 100 want to leave. We handed over their list to the police and are waiting for the police to get back with train details. As soon as it's available, the workers can leave,” Girish Jalwadi who works with JMC Projects said. Police insisting on local address Having made a decision to go home, around 100 workers had gone to the police station with their documents: their Aadhar card photo copies, and the form which needed to be filled so that they could catch the trains back home. The local police told them that they couldn’t leave because their local address was the labour colony and that people from colonies cannot leave for now. “We went to the police station with our Aadhar card number, they took all our details, but they are saying that the local address of the labour camp is not accepted! What should we do? We are willing to pay!", another worker says. A complaint from many workers across Bengaluru is that there seems to be no uniformity in the documents and proof that a migrant worker has to provide, in order to secure a train ticket. “What if we get sick here of coronavirus? There is no one here to take care of us. Look at how crowded this place is. Can we maintain 1 metre distance here? This place is disgusting, and we want to leave.” Geeta Devi, the woman who runs the mess, alleged she had not been paid by the company. “Mr Ganesh from the management told me that I will be paid for last month and this month by May 3. But today is the 6th, and I still haven’t seen a rupee. Where should I go? How will I pay for groceries to cook for all these people?” Some of the workers pointed out that Geeta pawned off her chain because she had no money to pay for vegetables and meat to continue feeding the workers. The workers also complained of the deplorable conditions they lived in. The water being pumped up for baths was visibly filthy, the tank brown in colour and growing fungus on top. The doors to the toilets broken, the toilets filthy. The women’s toilets were worse, with the bottom half of many doors completely broken, allowing no privacy. But more than anything else, what was irking the workers was that the police posted outside the colony were not allowing them to move out, literally making them prisoners within their compound.
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Karnataka govt to restart trains for migrant workers after public outrage
The trains were stopped on May 5 with Chief Minister Yediyurappa appealing to workers to return to work.
The Karnataka government will restart train services to transport migrant workers back to their home states, confirmed top sources in the state administration. The move comes two days after Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa unilaterally stopped train services attracting widespread criticism for creating a ‘hostage’ situation for migrant labourers. Sources confirmed to TNM that train services will resume from Friday. An IAS officer said that at least three trains will run on Friday. Railway officials remained tight lipped about the matter and said that only state government nodal officers are authorised to speak on the matter. The IAS officer also confirmed that only the Bihar government has accepted the proposal to ferry migrant workers and other states like West Bengal, Tripura, Jharkahd, Uttar Pradesh are yet to respond. The officer added that the government is trying to avoid hiccups unlike the last time and ensure that a more foolproof system is in place. Manjunath Prasad, Principal Secretary at Revenue Department who is the nodal officer for making arrangements for interstate travel could not be reached for a comment. The train service is also likely to be free for migrant workers. However, a definite decision is awaited. Earlier, a controversy erupted after migrant workers were asked to pay higher than normal prices for the special trains The Karnataka government had facilitated eight special trains on May 3 and 4 with around 1200 migrant workers aboard each train. However, this was stopped from May 5. Yediyurappa had on May 5 appealed to migrant workers to not leave for their hometowns and instead assured them work. "I appeal to labourers with folded hands don't pay heed to any rumors, it is the responsibility of the government to see to it that you get work at the place you were working... don't take hasty decisions of going to your natives. Stay here and work, as in the past," Yediyurappa said. Following this, labour unions and activists lashed out at the government accusing it of not taking labourers into confidence and instead using them to kickstart the economy. Organizations like the All India Central Council of Trade Unions, IIM-Bangalore faculty and various other groups, individuals had written to the Chief Minister to run free trains. The matter was also mentioned before the High Court. TNM had earlier reported how many of the workers were registered in the government’s Seva Sindhu portal but only a few could get on the trains. Many of these workers were living in deplorable conditions during lockdown and were forced to starve without government aid and lack of pay from their employers. In the last couple of days, there have been instances of minor violence as well including an incident of a police inspector getting injured.
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Azar faulted workers' 'home and social' conditions for meatpacking outbreaks
On a call with members of Congress, health secretary defended conditions inside the meat plants, three participants say.
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Karnataka schools may reopen for Classes 1 to 7 from June if lockdown not extended
The Department, however, says it will figure out guidelines and logistics of maintaining social distancing at schools in the coming days.
PTI/Representation Photo
The Karnataka government has decided to reopen primary and middle schools from June 1, after the summer vacation ends, if the Union government does not extend the lockdown. Commissioner of the Department of Public Instruction, KG Jagadeesha, said that the schools will reopen as usual if the lockdown period ends on May 17. “If the lockdown is extended, then obviously schools won’t open. So far, we have decided that schools will start as usual since the summer vacation ends on May 31,” he said. Sources in the Primary and Secondary Education Department said that the department’s officials have been consulting with the Health Department to formulate guidelines for schools once they reopen. One primary concern, officials say, is maintaining social distancing. “The Health Department has suggested that classes for students between standards 1 and 4 can be held in the mornings and the rest of them can have classes in the afternoon. To maintain social distancing, more classrooms are required,” the official said. The SSLC exams, which were to be held from March 27 this year, were postponed until further notice due to the lockdown. Primary and Secondary Education Department officials are mulling over holding the exams in the first week of July. “We have decided to start high school classes after the SSLC Exam. So far, we have decided to start classes only for those students from Class 1 to 7 starting June 1. After the SSLC Exams are over, the high school classes can begin again as the exams will need to be held in the high schools and holding classes at the same time is not possible,” KG Jagadeesha said. “We have to formulate all the guidelines first in consultation with the Health Department and then communicate this with the schools. Some schools may not have a big building. So we have to see whether classes can be held in a staggered manner. We are yet to decide on the logistics,” a department official said.
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Bengaluru’s poor, now out of cash, want pawn shops reopened
The cash crisis among the poor in Bengaluru is so severe that Indira Canteens – where meals are served at the subsidised rate of Rs 10 per plate – has few takers.
Photo by Senthil S and Maraa
By Pranshu Rathee/CitizenMatters.in Different people wanted different concessions during the total lockdown that lasted till May 3. While some wanted basic necessities like grain, some others wanted liquor shops to open. There was a unique request that went completely unheard. It was from the poor who did not even have money for basic needs: This section wanted pawn shops in the city to open so they could sell their little possessions and jewellery for some petty cash. The cash crisis among the poor in Bengaluru is so severe that Indira Canteens – where meals are served at the subsidised rate of Rs 10 per plate – has few takers. These canteens have lesser footfall after the government went back on its promise of providing free meals. “When we went to the slums, almost three weeks back, people were already running out of their savings. Some migrants from UP wanted to return to their native places, but first they had to earn some money to be able to afford the journey home. As there is no work anywhere and in many cases, wages have not been paid, the poor are really struggling. Under normal circumstances, the poor that reside in slums would find a way out of borrowing amongst themselves, but this is also not an option as everyone is under such severe distress,” said Vinay Sreenivasa, an activist working with Naavu Bharateeyaru, a city-based social welfare coalition. Data released by the Stranded Action Workers Network (SWAN), a group of 100 volunteers who have been responding to distress calls from migrant workers across the country since March 27, says that only 259 of 16,863 stranded workers reported receiving any cash transfer from the government. The report, released on Labour Day, points out: · More than 97 % (out of 10,383) have not received any cash relief from the government · 74 % of people have Rs 200 or less left with them · 64 % of people have less than Rs 100 left with them. (This is out of 9,981 stranded workers) The second highest number of stranded workers (4,736) that SWAN reached out to are in Karnataka. While they continue to work for migrant workers – who have started to leave Bengaluru in the last couple of days – SWAN has “been receiving an increased number of calls from the non-migrant urban poor in Bengaluru,” pointed out Seema Mundoli, who is coordinating relief in the South. Besides from Bengaluru, SWAN is receiving calls from Gulbarga, Raichur, Mysuru, Yadgir and Chickamagalur from both inter-State and intra-State migrants. Apparently, the demand for cash and other SOS calls are increasing, Seema said. “Poor locals are in such a dire situation that they are demanding that the state government open up local pawn shops so they can earn some petty cash by selling their possessions and jewellery,” said Issac Amruthraj, convenor of Slum Janara Sanghatne. Issac also suggested regulation of informal lenders and microcredit financiers who, he said, are harassing poor workers employed in the informal sectors for recovery of loans. Another crisis was seen being played out this weekend as hundreds queued up around Central Bus Station in Majestic, the city’s transport hub, after the government opened some bus routes to ferry stranded migrant workers on Friday. The catch, however, was that the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) decided to charge exorbitant rates to people who had not earned for nearly 40 days. Many who had walked long distances while carrying all their belongings to board these buses for passage home had no choice but to turn back as they were unable to afford the bus tickets. “We went to the bus stand to enquire about the situation. We met someone who wanted to go back to their native place in Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh but as there was no direct bus there, he planned to go to Ballari. He needed Rs 850 for the ticket but had only Rs 500 with him. Most were still unable to afford tickets,” explained Vinay. As public outcry grew, the government buckled and in a welcome announcement on Sunday (May 3), declared free bus services for ferrying migrants till May 5. The same was later extended till May 7. The Jan Dhan quagmire The Rs 1.70 lakh crore financial package announced under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) on March 27 appears to have brought little relief. One of the main schemes under this — depositing of Rs 500 to the Jan Dhan accounts of all women (20.6 crore accounts) for the next three months — has come in for much criticism. According to recent data, one in every five Jan Dhan accounts or roughly over 7 crore accounts are ‘inoperative/dormant’, meaning there has been no transaction in the account for over two years. Activists have pointed out that Rs 500 is not enough to help poor households meet their needs for a month. Additionally, a recent study from researchers from Yale University estimates that more than half of poor women in India are likely excluded from the cash transfer program. The study further points out: · 26% of poor women live more than 5 km away from their nearest banking point. · Only 75% or 150 million of the 200 million PMJDY accounts belong to poor women. · Many women do not know their accounts are PMJDY accounts, which could complicate access and withdrawals. The findings of the study are also consistent with media and academic reports on the subject. For instance, the death of a 62-year-old woman was reported in Jharkhand on April 19 due to heat and exhaustion while waiting in the queue for about two hours at a bank to draw Rs 500 from her Jan-Dhan account. Long queues outside banks, often in violation of social distancing guidelines, are a reality in rural areas in several states, including Karnataka and have raised concerns of further spread of the virus. Karnataka has 1.45 Crore Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana accounts as of 12/06/2019, according to Lok Sabha data. According to SWAN data, only 20 (out of 16,863 workers across the country that they spoke to) reported receiving the Rs 500. “There can be many reasons associated with this. A significant chunk of the poor may not have Jan Dhan accounts and it may also be possible that many may not have received any money into their account,” said SWAN’s Rajendran Narayanan, a faculty member at the Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. An additional problem with Jan Dhan accounts is that some have been unused for a long time and hence some users are experiencing additional cess charges for maintaining minimum balance. The RBI needs to issue a strong directive to not have minimum balance restrictions. Second, the governments need to maintain records of migrants from various places and ensure that cash transfer can be done to any kind of account. Cash could also be given based on self-identification, Rajendran said. Meeting the Cash Emergency Despite easing of some lockdown restrictions, cash-generation will continue to be an issue as many occupations the poor are involved in are unlikely to resume immediately. While the idea of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) is floating around, the Congress party has recommended cash transfer of Rs 7,500 to bank accounts of all those covered under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, PM-Kisan scheme and pension accounts, including those of elderly, persons with disability and widows. Bihar and Jharkhand initiated schemes based on mobile application technology, but have had mixed levels of success due to a host of technical issues and difficult preconditions. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have provided Rs 1000 to all PDS holders, according to Vinay. SWAN has recommended emergency cash relief of Rs 7,000 per month for at least 3 months (without biometric authentication) to each poor household/migrant worker and minimum wages for 25 days per month into Jan Dhan accounts of all urban residents for the period of the lockdown and two months following the end of the lockdown. The researchers at Yale too believe “extending transfers to banked women who don’t own a PMJDY account would substantially increase inclusion”. Activists on the ground in Bengaluru have also suggested some radical ideas. Advocate and labour rights activists, Clifton Rosario, suggested a COVID cess or a ‘super-rich tax’ to guarantee cash assistance and wages to the poor. Pranshu Rathee is a freelance journalist based in Bengaluru. This article was first published in Citizen Matters, a civic media website and is republished here with permission. (c) Oorvani Foundation/Open Media Initiative.
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