After April 14, the lockdown will continue, and may even tighten, in 62 (out of a total of 720) districts across India that together account for 80 percent of cases. Delhi is also part of that.
It is unclear what this means for the millions of migrant workers who are stuck without work across the country. India has some 125 million migrant workers who work in other states or cities far away from their villages. As a rickshaw driver, such as Gudu, or in factories, construction or households. This has now all come to a standstill and by no means labor migrants get paid.
That is why they prefer to return to their village, where they have a social safety net. Some got there on time and took home the last crowded buses and trains. Others decided to walk home hundreds of miles after announcing the nationwide lockdown, and thus the stopping of buses and trains. For example, the last week of March, an estimated 300,000 migrant workers were on their way.
When special buses were used for some of them, and images of thousands of people who crowded around the world for this purpose, the government decided to intervene severely. Anyone on the road despite the lockdown had to be arrested at state borders and required to be quarantined for two weeks.
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