Death by a Thousand Cuts

Many in India have finally woken up to the precarious conditions in which a majority of the country’s workers live and work. Driven to starvation because of an abruptly announced lockdown, migrant labourers have had no option but to try to return to the safety of their homes in villages. As a callous government blocked all public transport, many decided to make the journey on foot or on bicycles, even as the police came down heavily on them. Several perished of starvation, or in mishaps, on the way. Most of them had led financially precarious lives even before the pandemic. The choice for migrant labourers was to either take the risk of contracting COVID-19 by venturing out or confront the danger of death by starvation.

The lockdown has entered its third month, and is unlikely to be lifted any time soon, even though daily circulars keep changing its definition. While the effectiveness of the lockdown in containing the spread remains unclear, the economic devastation it has caused is plain