PLEASE WAKE MY MOTHER

My mother doesn’t wake up. I have tried so hard. Have pulled her sari, her sheet; but she doesn’t open her eyes. She does not sit up and take me in her lap. I have even danced all round her, to make her laugh. She always smiles when I do naughty things. But, today she just does not look at me also. Can you wake my mother, Piyush Goyal? She is lying on the floor. It is a railway station, I am told. And that you are in-charge. Can you wake her please?

The country wept on seeing the video. The little child playfully tugging at the shroud covering his dead mother’s body was too tragic and painful to watch. When the video went viral, even men wrote they could not hold back their tears. It was perhaps reaching a nadir, in the pitiful images we have been seeing ever since the first lockdown was announced by the prime minister, Narendra Modi. The way our governments have been treating these poor daily wage workers, who have been stranded for days in cities thousands of miles away from their homes is beyond callous. Perhaps, there exists no word to describe their treatment in any language.

Arwina Khatun, 35, travelling with her two children had boarded the train on 23 May 2020. On 25 May when she got off at Muzzafarpur in Bihar she just collapsed and died; of heat, hunger, dehydration. Whatever little food and water she had, she must have fed her little children. She is not alone. Every day we hear of migrants dying of fatigue, in road and rail accidents and now even on journeys on train. Many more have died on the Shramik trains, even one found dead in the filthy toilet.

According to the Railway Protection Force, as of today, 30th May 2020, there have been almost 80 deaths on board the Shramik Special trains (being run for stranded migrant workers) between May 9 and May 27. Never in the history of Indian Railways of independent India did you hear of such numbers. And the railways are trying to convince the country, all these people were suffering from some illnesses prior to boarding the trains so they died. Yes, they were sick, hungry, and penniless and without treatment of any kind for 40 plus days, so when they were put on those boiling cauldrons called Shramik Specials, they died. And to add insult to injury, the Railway Minister, Piyush Goyal, advises people not to travel unless absolutely necessary; and those below 10 or above 65, with chronic illnesses should avoid travel completely. If there ever was apathy, it is in the union cabinet of India today. Families should leave behind children and elderly because railways cannot ensure their safe arrival!!!

After almost 40 plus days, when the government did decide to ply some Shramik trains for these underdogs, there was no planning, no coordination between Centre and States, no clear cut procedure.

The Union government which came under heavy criticism for not arranging travel facilities for the stranded migrant labourers before imposing a lockdown, finally, buckled and allowed the movement of migrant workers by organising special trains for them. The railways announced the first Shramik train on 1 May, 2020. Around 500 such trains were promised to be run to take stranded migrants home. Since then, however, the number of Shramik trains has been increasing everyday which shows, their estimates were way off the mark. 

Indian Railways has got the capacity to run almost 300 Shramik special trains a day, however, less than half were being run, according to the railway ministry. The entire exercise has been mired in confusion, lack of planning, lack of amicable coordination with states and so on. The hapless men, women and children have been made to walk to stations back and forth. Orders kept getting reversed; the indecisiveness and lack of clarity, showing at every step.

When news broke out that the poor had to shell out money for the tickets and sometimes far more than the actual price, the Congress came out with a statement they would foot the bill. They said they were advising their state units to pay for migrant tickets. Not wanting the Congress party to earn any brownie points on the issue the GOI issued a statement saying Centre was paying 85% of ticket cost and asking States to pay only 15%. However, in reality that has not happened so far. And the poor have had to beg, borrow, take loans and ask families to sell cattle and send money for their food and tickets.

When trains were announced many say they went to the railway stations to buy tickets from the counter but the police refused to let them inside as they did not have valid e-tickets. According to government figures, only 20% of migrant workers were housed in state-run shelters and school premises in the national capital. Where were the remaining 80% to go?

Unable to register for Shramik trains or buy tickets online, migrant workers from across the city started out on foot back to their villages. To avoid heat during the day, many walked during the night, resting by the side of highways during the day. Occasionally, they got food and water from some good Samaritans or NGOs. With day temperatures reeling above 40 degrees Celsius it is a gruelling journey.

Also, initially railways said tickets will be sold only online, as they did not want crowds at platform counters, without thinking that these are poor people who didn’t own smart phones and didn’t have internet. Most of them recharge their phones for small amounts. When, the realisation dawned then some kind of registration was opened in some areas. The pictures of Ghaziabad Ram Lila ground of thousands descending, spoke volumes of their lack of understanding of the situation.

Ever since, nobody has any clue when the trains will start, from which station and at what time they will run. Migrants complained at Wadala station they had been coming for three days to the station and were told the train was cancelled without giving any reasons. They were being made to run in lockdown cities to get doctor’s certificates and passport size photos.

The passengers were to be screened by the States and only those found asymptomatic would be allowed to travel. In addition, the State governments sending the migrants were to arrange to bring these people in sanitized buses following social distancing norms. Also, it would be mandatory for every passenger to wear face masks. Claims were made meals and drinking water would be provided to the passengers by the states at the originating station. We have seen images of rotten food thrown all over stations by migrants, as it was not edible.

The fare calculated by railways was to be for the Sleeper Mail Express train, plus Rs. 30 superfast charge and an additional charge of Rs.20, which would include meals and drinking water for long-distance trains. However, passengers were told they would not be required to buy the ticket and that the fares would be paid by the state governments.

However, this was furthest from what was happening on the ground. All migrants were paying for their tickets, in fact, at times shelling out far more than the actual fare value. According to a Quint report, a worker from BJP's Surat unit duped around 100 migrant labourers from Gujarat by charging them exorbitant amounts to buy tickets. 

State Governments, where the migrants would disembark were asked to make all arrangements for their screening on arrival, quarantine and if necessary further travel from the Railway Station.

As the Centre faced criticism from the opposition over the Indian Railways asking migrant labourers to pay for train tickets, the union government came out with an explanation. They claimed 85% percent of the transportation cost was being borne by the Railways, while states were being asked to bear 15% of the cost. 

Apparently for regular sleeper trains, the Railway subsidy given to passengers is 47% of the total cost involved. However, in the present context, the Centre claimed it was bearing 85% of the travel costs. Since these special trains for migrant workers were supposed to carry less than their regular capacity of passengers, due to social distancing norms, and were to come back empty, the subsidy to be given to the passengers would have to be around 85%.

This meant that the printed fares on the tickets would reflect 15% of the total cost incurred by the Railways, and the state governments would reimburse that amount to the Railways. It didn’t mean that the Centre was paying 85% of the ticket price. So actually, the Centre was not paying anything. 

Neither are the tickets lower for the Shramik trains, in fact they are higher, as the Railways added an additional Rs 50 on the normal sleeper class fares. 

For example, if the usual sleeper class fare for a particular destination is between Rs 650-700 and only 15% of it had been charged, a worker would have paid around Rs 100. But what was being charged was around Rs 740.

Also, the Centre has been saying one thing on record and something else to the bureaucrats behind closed doors. Even as the Railways organised the first lot of special trains, the union home secretary, told the chief secretaries of states that only those workers who are stranded in-between will be allowed to board the special trains, creating further confusion. Where were the remaining workers to go who were stuck due to the lockdown?

Then reports started coming in that trains were getting lost. Those meant to reach UP or Bihar were reaching Orissa. The Indian Railway clarified that the incidents happened only on May 23 and 24. The problems began on May 22 when the congestion — caused by hundreds of trains heading to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar — was first reported. The Railway Board decided to divert the trains due to trains clogging up near the destinations because of various protocols mandated. Most stations on this stretch being small and would not have the capacity to handle issues like food or water shortage, health emergencies or law and order issues. Hence, it was decided to divert some trains. This explanation only emphasizes the lack of planning and coordination between railways, centre and state governments.

The confusion led to delays and passengers going hungry. While, the stations did not have the capacity to provide food, stalls were shut amid the lockdown. One passenger died during the journey. People needed food desperately, the children were crying. Many passengers tweeted about the issues to the railways but nothing got resolved. The train that was supposed to reach in 24 hours took 4 days.

So, is it a wonder that Arwina Khatun and many others died on these death vehicles. The government has brought so much misery to the country, which was completely avoidable. Leaders who sit in their ivory towers and take decisions on whims create chaos. India has been shaken to its roots. Our rural people who form the backbone of all cities and industry are heartbroken and feel betrayed. They are not coming back soon.

Sources: press reports, twitter