An urgent appeal for immediate assistance to migrant workers

Here's the full text of an urgent appeal by over 200 academics and professionals for providing immmediate relief to the migrant workers who are unable to reach their homes due to the current lockdown.

This is an urgent appeal for assistance to migrant workers who are unable to reach their homes due to the current lockdown – free food, medical care and sanitation at the very least.

Also read:

Masks, hand sanitisers now under Essential Commodities Act

The sudden imposition of a

21-day all-India lockdown on March 24, 2020 , at just 4 hours’ notice, has led to horrific consequences for many. This decision, taken without proper planning, completely overlooked the disastrous impact it would have on 90 percent of our labour force. Extremely disturbing reports of the plight of lakhs of migrant labourers in different parts of the country keep pouring in. Many of them are stranded and starving in the industrial belts where they work. In the absence of any transport, many are walking hundreds of kilometres to their villages on a hungry stomach. Others, in desperation, are packing themselves in lorries, at the risk of contracting or spreading the virus.

We make this urgent plea to the Central Government to pay heed to the situation immediately. The government must use the network of anganwadis, panchayat bhavans, government schools, government colleges, railway stations, bus stations, community halls, block offices, district headquarters etc to set up feeding centres to arrange free cooked food, medical care and sanitation. Foodgrains to the tune of 585 lakh metric tonnes are available in godowns of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Central Warehousing Corporation (even before the wheat harvest). Some of it can be used to prepare cooked meals and/or take-home rations in these centres. This assistance should be available to all unconditionally, without any paperwork. This will still leave more than enough food in the godowns to fulfil the Finance Minister’s announcements and maintain adequate buffer stocks.

We also urge the government to immediately arrange for sanitised bus and train services to enable stranded workers to reach home safely. Others trapped at their distant workplaces must be assured of a secure living space with enough food, soap, sanitary pads and medical care. This is a national emergency and lakhs of people are in danger of perishing in hunger and trauma. We therefore make this urgent appeal for an immediate response to the humanitarian crisis, to prevent it from snowballing further.

Also read: Coronavirus | Lockdown forces migrant workers to walk from Manesar to home in Uttar Pradesh

Endorsements (in alphabetical order of first name)

Aaditeshwar Seth, Gram Vaani and IIT Delhi
Aarti, Biologist, Hyderabad
Abey George, Associate Professor, Kerala Institute of Local Administration
Abhijit Sen, JNU
Abhiman Das, IIM Ahmedabad
Aditya Bhattacharjea, Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics
Akash Bhattacharya, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
Akoijam sunita, Independent writer
Akshaya Tankha, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Toronto
Alex Thomas, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
Alisa Blinova, USA
Alok Laddha, Chennai Mathematical Institute, Chennai
Ambarish Rai, National Convenor, RTE Forum
Amit Basole, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
Amrita Johri, Satark Nagrik Sangathan, Delhi
Anand Shrivastava, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
Anand T. Vaidya, Reader, TIFR Hyderabad
Anindita Adhikari, Doctoral Student, Brown University
Anivar Aravind, Bangalore
Anjali Bhardwaj, Satark Nagrik Sangathan
Anjali Noronha, Concerned Citizen, Bhopal
Anjor Bhaskar, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
Ankita Aggarwal, Doctoral Student, City University of New York
Ankur Paliwal, Land Conflict Watch, Independent Journalist
Ankur Sarin, Faculty, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
Annie Raja, National Federation of Indian Women, Delhi
Anuradha Dutta, Concerned Citizen, Delhi
Anwar Jafri, Samavesh , Bhopal
Apar Gupta, Internet Freedom Foundation
Aparna Vaidik. Associate Professor, Ashoka University, Kundli, Haryana
Apurva Barmezai, Doctoral Student, University of Pennsylvania
Ardhendu Sen, Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
Arif Ghauri, Former Governance Adviser, DFID, Govt. of the United Kingdom
Arjun Jayadev, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
Arun Maira, Management Consultant and Former Member, Planning Commission
Aruna Roy, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan
Arundhati Dhuru, Social Activist, NAPM Uttar Pradesh.
Ashish Ranjan, Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan
Ashok Kotwal, Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia
Ashok Kumar Sharma, IFS (Retd.), Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia
Ashwini Kulkarni, Pragati Abhiyan, Nashik
Atanu Sen, Vikramshila, Kolkata
Avani Chokshi, CPI (ML), Bangalore
Bobby Mahapatra, Texas A&M University
Brinda Pancholi, Freelance Consultant, Bangalore
C P Chandraskhar, JNU
Chakradhar Buddha, LibTech India
Chandrika R, Software Engineer
Cheryl Dsouza, Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms
Danish Khan, Concerned Citizen, Bhopal
Deb Mukharji, IFS (Retd.), Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to Nepal
Debjani Sengupta, Professor, Delhi University
Debmalya Nandi, Social Activist, Bangalore
Debraj Ray, Professor, New York University
Deepika Joshi, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Chhattisgarh
Dipa Sinha, Ambedkar University, Delhi
Dr Sylvia Karpagam, Public health doctor and researcher, Karnataka
Dr Vasu H V, Jagruta Karnataka and Gauri Media
Dr. Rama V. Baru, Professor, Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Dr. Sanjaya Baru, Former Advisor to Prime Minister of India
Dr.Asifa Nisar, Women's wing, AIMPLB Bengaluru
Dr.K.V.Ramaswamy, Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research
Farman, Concerned Citizen
Farzana Afridi, Associate Professor of Economics, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi
G. Balachandhran, Retd IAS, Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
G. Sankaran, IC&CES (Retd.), Former President, Customs, Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal
Gabriele Dietrich, Penn Urimay Iyakkam, Madurai, NAPM Tamil Nadu.
Gaurav Datt, Associate Professor of Economics, Monash University
Gaurav Singh, Right to food Campaign, Chhattisgarh
Gautam Mody, General Secretary, National Trade Union Initiative
Geetha Menon, Stree Jagruti Samiti, Bangalore
Geetha Thoopal, IRAS (Retd.), Former General Manager, Metro Railway, Kolkata
Harsh Mander, social activist
Himanshu, JNU
Himshi Singh, Social Activist, Himachal Pradesh and NAPM.
Indrajit Bose, Climate Change Researcher
Indrani Gupta, Professor, Institute of Economic Growth
Indrani Gupta, Professor, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi
Ishita Aggarwal Choudhary, Consultant
Jasmeeta Dubey, Concerned Citizen
Jawahar Mehta, VSK, Palamu,Jharkhand
Jayati Ghosh, JNU
Jayati Sarkar, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai
Jean Dreze, Visiting Professor, Department of Economics, Ranchi University
Jitendra Rathod, Social Activist, Ahmedabad
Jyothi Krishnan, Social Accountability Resource Unit
K. Nagaraj, Adjunct Faculty, Asian College of Journalism
Kade Finoff, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
Kalpana Kannabiran, Professor & Director, Council for Social Development, Hyderabad
Karen Coelho, Associate Professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai.
Karuna DW, Visiting faculty, Azim Premji University
Karuna M, Rural Development Consultant, Chennai
Kavitha Srinivasan, Bangalore
Koninika, National Federation of Indian Women
Kripal Singh Mandloi, Khudai Khidmatgar, MP
Kshiraja Krishnan, Bangalore
Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava, Land Conflicts Watch
Leela Visaria, Honorary Professor, Gujarat Institute of Development Research
M.G. Devasahayam, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana
M.R. Sharan, Doctoral Student, Harvard University
Madhu Bhushan, Gamana Mahila Samuha, Bangalore
Maheen Mirza, Independent Awards Winning Filmmaker, Bhopal
Maitreesh Ghatak, Professor, Department of Economics, London School of Economics
Manjula, General Secretary, Karnataka Sex Workers Union,
Manohar Elavarthi, Swaraj Abhiyan, Bengaluru
Mashqura Fareedi, Bangalore
Mausumi Das, Associate Professor, Delhi School of Economics
Medha Patkar, Narmada Bachao Andolan and NAPM.
Meena Gupta, Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI
Meena Seshu, Sangli, Maharashtra
Meera Sanghamitra, National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), Telangana
Monica Thomas, Consultant Neurologist, New Delhi
Nachiket Udupa, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan
Nalini Nayak, Retired Associate Professor, PGDAV(M) College, Delhi
Naman Aggarwal, New Delhi
Naman Garg, research scholar, Columbia University
Nandini Nayak, Ambedkar University, Delhi
Narendra Gupta, Prayas, Rajasthan
Naresh Saxena, Retired bureaucrat and former Member, Planning Commission
Navdeep Mathur, IIM Ahmedabad
Navrekha Sharma, IFS (Retd.), Former Ambassador to Indonesia
Nawasha Mishra, Right to Food Campaign, New Delhi
Neeta Hardikar, Anna Suraksha Adhikar Abhiya, Gujarat
Nikhil Dey, Jan Sarokar
Nirmal Kumar Shukla, Concerned Citizen, Hoshangabad
Nitin Desai, Former Chief Economic Adviser
Nitin Sethi, Independent Journalist
Nupur Samuel , OP Jindal Global University, Sonepat, Haryana
Odisha khadya Adhikar Abhiyan
Paaritosh Nath, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru
Padmapriya, Delhi
Pallavi Gupta, Independent Consultant- Public Health, New Delhi
Pankti Jog, RTI activist, Gujarat
Parth Shah, President, Centre for Civil Society
Paschim Bongo Khet Majoor Samity
Piyuli Ghosh, Concerned Citizen, Bhopal
Poonam Muttreja, Population Foundation of India
Prabhat Patnaik, JNU
Pranab Bardhan, University of California at Berkeley
Pranab Mukhopadhyay, Professor of Economics, Goa University
Prarthna, Ghareloo Mahila Kamgar Adhikar Sangh Bhopal, Bhopal
Prashant Bhushan, Lawyer and Activist
Pratip Chatterjee
Praveen Jha, JNU
Pritha Dev, IIM A
Priya Iyer, Concerned Citizen, Bangalore
Priya Pillai, Mahan Sangharsh Samiti & NAPM (Madhya Pradesh)
Pulin Nayak, Retired Professor of economics, Delhi School of Economics
Pushpendra, Professor and Chairperson, Centre for Development Practice and Research, Tata Institute of Social Sciences
Rahul De, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
Rajendran Narayanan, Assistant Professor, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
Rajesh, Sangama, Bengaluru
Rakshita Swamy, Lead Coordinator, Social Accountability Resource Unit
Ram Singh, Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics
Ramachandra Guha, Satish Dhawan Chair Visiting Professor, Indian Institute of Science
Rammanohar Reddy, Editor, ‘The India Forum’
Ravinder Kaur, Professor, IIT Delhi
Reetika Khera, Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Management
Ria Singh Sawhney, Advocate
Rohini Pande, Professor of Economics, Yale University
Rohini Somanathan, Professor, Delhi School of Economics
Rohit Azad, JNU
Rohit Thakur, Narmada Bachao Andolan and NAPM.
Rosey Mukherjee, Individual Volunteer, Bangalore
Rupayan Pal (IGIDR)
S. Mahendra Dev, IGIDR, Mumbai
S.M. Vijayanand, Retired bureauacrat, Former Chief Secretary, Kerala
S.Q. Maqsood, Social Activist, Hyderabad
Saba Khan, Ayurvedic Doctor, Rajgarh
Saba, Insani Biradri, Bhopal
Sachin Jain, Right to Food Campaign
Sakina Dhorajiwala, LibTech India
Sandeep Pandey, Social activist, Socialist party of India
Santosh Panda, Retired Professor, Delhi School of Economics
Saptarshi Guha, Mozilla,San Francisco
Sarika Shrivastava, Action Aid, Bhopal
Savvy Sowmya, Oxfam India, Delhi
Sayandeb Chowdhury, Assistant Professor, Ambedkar University, Delhi
SC Behar, Retd IAS, Madhya Pradesh
Seema, Mahila Manch, Bhopal
Shankar Singh, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan
Shekhar Singh, Founder Member, National Campaign for People’s Right to Information
Shikha Nehra, Stanford University
Shivan,i concerned citizen, Indore
Shivani Taneja, Muskaan, Bhopal
Shreekant Gupta, Professor, Delhi School of Economics
Shreya Shrivastav, Lawyer
Siraj Dutta, Right to Food Campaign, Jharkhand
Smita Gupta, JNU
Sreenivasan Subramanian, Madras Institute of Development Studies
Srijit Mishra, Professor of Economics, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research
Subrata Sarkar, IGIDR, Mumbai
Sudha N, Independent Researcher/Activist, Bangalore
Sudha Narayanan, IGIDR, Mumbai
Sugata Bag, Delhi School of Economics
Sujata Visaria, Hong University of Science and Technology
Sujatha Singh, Former Foreign Secretary, GoI
Sumukh Athreya, Software Engineer, Bangalore
Sundar Burra, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
Supriya Nayak, Odissi dancer
Surabhi Agarwal, Socialist party (india), Delhi
Surashree Shome, Concerned Citizen, Bangalore
Surender Kumar, Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics
Swathi Seshadri, Researcher, Bangalore
Sweta Dash, Right to Food Campaign
T. R. Raghunandan, ex-IAS and development consultant
Tasqeen Machiwala, Concerned Citizen, Bangalore
Tridip Ray, Professor of Economics, Indian Statistical Institute
Utsa Patnaik, JNU
V.P. Raja, Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission
Venkat Srinivasan, Data Scientist, Bangalore
Vijay Kelkar, Chairman, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi
Vikas Rawal, JNU
Vivek, Software Professional, Hyderabad
Y J Rajendra, PUCL Karnataka
Yogendra Yadav, President, Swaraj India
Zehra Mehdi, Columbia University, New York City

An urgent appeal for immediate assistance to migrant workers

The sudden imposition of a 21-day all-India lockdown on March 24, 2020, at just 4 hours’ notice, has led to horrific consequences for many.

Most Popular

An urgent appeal for immediate assistance to migrant workers

The sudden imposition of a 21-day all-India lockdown on March 24, 2020, at just 4 hours’ notice, has led to horrific consequences for many.

Related Topics

Most Popular

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