Migrant Lives Matter: A Photo Feature

By Team ECE (Early Childhood Education), Azim Premji Foundation, Sangareddy, Telangana

Narasimhulu and Parvathi’s family hails from Zaheerabad town in the Sangareddy district of Telangana. The couple has two sons and a daughter. Their elder son is married and lives in Zaheerabad. He does daily-wage jobs to earn a living. The daughter is married. The younger son, Pavan, was studying in class III at the government school in Zaheerabad.

Ten days before the lockdown was announced, the couple, along with their younger son, had come to Sangareddy town for work. Every day, they would go to the labour adda to find daily-wage work. They had taken shelter under a tree for a few days with the expectation that once they get some work. They would go back to their hometown to get the essential living materials, like vessels and gunny bags to make a tent as shelter. As the lockdown was announced suddenly, they could neither go back to their hometown nor did they have anywhere to live. Without work, they were left penniless.

An elderly watchman, who had been working for many years at under-construction buildings in the locality where Narasimhulu’s family was taking shelter, helped him secure a watchman’s job at a nearby construction site. The construction site has a small thatched shelter in which the family is currently staying. Narasimhulu’s work is to water the basement and the pillars and take care of the construction material. The landlord has agreed to pay Rs 6000/- per month and has supported the family in getting 36 kg of rice through the Public Distribution System (PDS).

The family could not avail of the Rs 1,500/- support promised by the government because they do not have a bank account. An NGO distributed dry ration to migrant labourers in Sangareddy, but that did not reach Narasimhulu’s family. Parvathi had begun working as a housemaid to augment family earnings. But as people have stopped utilizing housemaids’ services due to COVID-19, she is also without work.

At the time of writing this story, without Narasimhulu’s salary that would come only at the end of the month, his family had only a few hundred rupees left. They were living on rice, a pickle made of chilli powder, and salt. Pavan used to get mid-day meals at school but now, has also been living on rice and pickle. Currently, he helps his father with the work at the construction site and spends most of his time playing with the material in his surroundings.

The landlord asked them not to move around. The local kirana shopkeeper had asked them to use a handkerchief or a towel to cover their faces.

They don’t know why! Because they don’t have access to the news and there is no other means of awareness and communication about how the virus spreads and how people get affected.

Parvathi told us that they are not thinking of returning home because they would not get any work there too. When we asked them what kind of support they need, they responded, ‘Whatever helps us sustain this month’.  They are looking for support in the form of essential food items (dal, oil, spices, etc.) and cash for buying daily essentials, like milk and vegetables.

Like Narasimhulu and Paravthi’s family, there are more than forty other families in the nearby locality in the same situation. Although the government and voluntary organizations are working hard to reach all the needy, there are many families that are left out and remain unserved.

UPDATE: When we went back with a ration kit to give to Narasimhulu and Paravthi’s family, we found that they had lost the work at the construction site too. The landlord did not want to pay the salary since the construction work has been stalled indefinitely. So, they are back under the tree and taking help from the elderly watchman’s family, who helped them initially.

AUTHORS
ECE Team (Sangareddy). The Early Childhood Education (ECE) Initiative of the Azim Premji Foundation focuses on capacity development of teachers to become reflective practitioners with the aim to transform Anganwadi Centres into vibrant learning centres for the holistic development of children in the age group of 3-6 years.