The COVID-19 disease has become a nightmare for farmers, labourers and small-time traders in India. When I came to India via Beijing, China, on January 26, the coronavirus outbreak was at its peak there, but I thought it will not affect India.
However, it did reach our country and the first positive case was reported on January 30, while the country and the Union government were immersed in the CAA controversy. The number of COVID-19 positive cases started increasing steadily in all the states, and finally the Union government realised the grave threat. The country began shutting down and people scrambled to get back to their homes.
When I reached my village Mehragaon, Narsinghpur district, Madhya Pradesh, life was normal there. People were busy with their respective jobs, be it farming crops or manual labour. Suddenly, one , the “Janta Curfew” was announced. The farmers had no idea about it. The local administration was trying to spread awareness about the coronavirus, but they did not have time to go to every village. Also, the state government was busy horse-trading MLAs.
People had no clue about the situation. They got confused when the district collector started daily bulletins of lockdown, on what to do and what not to do. Unfortunately, half of the population doesn’t use cell phones in the village. No newspapers either. They got incomplete information from the few who use smartphones. For the farmers, this was their time for harvest, but lockdown has been announced now.
They need to use tractors and harvesters, but they can't go to the town to buy diesel and petrol, and other commodities for daily use. Every day there were new experiments – sometimes they would open gas stations at night and allow two people on a tractor or harvester to fill diesel. Later, they become a little lenient to the farmers, giving diesel during the day. But no markets were open for vegetable and fruit growers. They cannot even go to the town or cities to try and sell their produce, fearing police brutality. Consequently, the fruits and vegetables have started rotting, when, on the other hand, people in the towns and cities are not get fresh produce, leading to price rise.
There is also a shortage of labour to help the farmers with harvesting, loading and transport, as most of them come from other states, and because of the lockdown, they are unable to come.
Farmers are the most affected lot during this lockdown. Many of them don't have groceries at home, except for some wheat and rice. They don't have cash either to buy essential commodities. The small shops in the village, from where they could have got some credit, have run out of stock. Farmers and daily-wage workers hardly stock anything, be it cash or essential items. They buy in small quantities according to their immediate needs. The villagers helped each other out for a few days but then, everybody is facing the same problem of shortage. The old are getting more nervous because they are not getting pension on time. They are also not getting their medicines. They can't go to the doctor or hospitals because doctors are not available in the government hospital. The situation of differently-abled people is even worse.
The Madhya Pradesh chief minister announced Rs 1,000 to labourers in unorganised sectors. He also said Rs 155 would be transferred into the bank account of each primary school student and Rs 232 in the account of each middle-school student. It would cost the state exchequer Rs 156.15 crore, he said. This is just a gimmick as I checked with the children in my village and none of them have received any amount so far.
So, I formed a team of young volunteers through Sukarma Foundation. We started going to nearby villages, and inquired about their problems due to the lockdown. From groceries to mobile balance to make a call, they didn't have anything. How will they survive this lockdown period? We collected some funds, brought some groceries and distributed in nearby villages. In one village, a priest came and said “Madam, many families in our village are sleeping without a meal. They don’t have enough food to even feed their children. “Isn't there any support from the government for such families,” I asked. No, he said. “You are the only person who came to this village to distribute free groceries to these poor families. No government officials came.”
The migrant workers, too, were in deep trouble. With no work and transport, many of them were forced to walk thousands of kilometres, to reach home. We found one such group that has been walking for four days. We asked them why don’t they stay in one place where they will get everything during this lockdown period, as the government has promised. They said they can't stay as they had left their children at home in their villages and they had to get back. Without them to take care of the children, they may die of hunger. The group finally managed to reach home after seven days, but they were not allowed to enter the village, though they were screened and were willing to spend 14 days in isolation. I contacted a person there and managed to settle the matter.
Life is hard these days. Every day, we are going to different villages, reaching out to 20-30 needy families. I hope this phase passes soon.
Maya Vishwakarma is a cancer research scientist, and has been living in the US for 12 years. She started Sukarma Foundation in 2016, to educate girls in villages on menstrual hygiene and to help bring tele-health in villages in MP.
The opinions and facts expressed in this article are those of the author's and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK, or independently verified by us.