Migrant workers desperate to return to their homes wait for transport to a railway station in Ahmedabad, India, on May 13. Photo: AP Migrant workers desperate to return to their homes wait for transport to a railway station in Ahmedabad, India, on May 13. Photo: AP
Migrant workers desperate to return to their homes wait for transport to a railway station in Ahmedabad, India, on May 13. Photo: AP
Neeta Lal
Opinion

Opinion

Neeta Lal

Modi’s coronavirus response leaves India’s poor migrant workers to suffer

  • Precarious and crowded living conditions for those working in the informal economy make social distancing and handwashing unfeasible
  • The government’s response has been inadequate and largely focused on long-term economic uplift, leaving the poor cast adrift with no access to social protections

Neeta Lal
Neeta Lal

Updated: 11:30am, 13 Jun, 2020

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Migrant workers desperate to return to their homes wait for transport to a railway station in Ahmedabad, India, on May 13. Photo: AP Migrant workers desperate to return to their homes wait for transport to a railway station in Ahmedabad, India, on May 13. Photo: AP
Migrant workers desperate to return to their homes wait for transport to a railway station in Ahmedabad, India, on May 13. Photo: AP
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Neeta Lal

Neeta Lal

Delhi-based journalist and editor Neeta Lal has worked with India's leading publications in her three-decade career. She writes for over 20 publications worldwide and was nominated for World Media Summit Global Awards for Excellence 2014 and SOPA Awards 2014. A postgraduate in English literature, she has also been a scholar at the International Summer School, Norway and Concordia University, Canada, and has travelled to 52 countries.