Centre unveils plan to deal with 'psycho-social issues' of migrant workers

The Union government on Wednesday released detailed guidelines to deal with the ‘psycho-social issues’ of migrants who have been impacted due to the nationwide lockdown announced to deal with the spread of the coronavirus in India.

Separately, the government has also issued advisory for the state governments to quarantine these workers.

The government has told the states to treat every migrant worker with dignity, respect, empathy and compassion, listening to their concerns patiently and to understand their problems.

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The states have been advised to tell the workers that the lockdown situation is “transient and not going to last long.”

“Normal life is going to resume soon,” the guidelines issued by the Health Ministry on Wednesday said. This is a follow-up of the directions given by the Supreme Court in an order on Tuesday. The apex court was responding to a petition that flagged the plight of migrant workers, up to 600,000 of whom had to travel on foot to reach their native states following the lockdown that led to a ban on public transport and industries where they worked.

“Emphasise on the importance of their staying in their present location and how mass movement could greatly and adversely affect all efforts to contain the virus,” the guidelines read.

The government acknowledged that the migrants may be prone to social, psychological and emotional trauma in such situations due to a fear of neglect by the local community and concerns about well-being and safety of their families “waiting in their native places.”

“During outbreak of communicable diseases, such a COVID-19, and the restrictions imposed on routine activities as part of social distancing norms to prevent the spread of the disease, scores of migrant workers tend to move back to their native places. During the prevailing COVID pandemic also, many migrant workers used all possible means to reach their destinations,” the health ministry said. It added that many of the migrant workers are stuck at borders and they are the most marginalized sections of the society who are dependent on daily wages for their living, and “in times of such distress need sympathy and understanding of the society.” Their immediate concerns, the government noted, relate to food, shelter, healthcare, fear of getting infected or spreading the infection, loss of wages, concerns about the family, anxiety and fear. Sometimes, they also face harassment and negative reactions of the local community, it added. “All this calls for strong social protection,” the government said.

The Central government told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that 500,000-600,000 migrants reached their villages on foot during the lockdown. The migrant workers left their place of work as a result of the lockdown which resulted in closure of all businesses.