Skip to main content

Why India's poor didn't stay back in cities, were better off on road, marching in hot sun

By Anand K Sahay*
The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the uncertainties of major world economies, but in India it has laid bare our pretensions. The reality is sinking in slowly as hundreds of thousands of Indians have been forced, in the absence of governmental support, to make do with short-term charity from private individuals and voluntary agencies to stave off hunger in the past forty-odd days, the duration of the lockdown so far.
The Union government has proved itself unwilling (and is quite possibly also incapable) to extend them succor even in an hour such as this. On the ground -- in the districts and in the villages -- it is state governments that must deal with the unprecedented situation. And they are struggling.
The state of their finances is far from satisfactory. It’s been made worse by the Centre’s unexplained delay in paying the Rs, 32,000 crore owed them as GST backlog, and that’s just one of the issues on the table. If things turn out poorly, it is the states that will be made the fall guy, politically speaking, while the good and the great at the Centre will probably busy themselves with theatrics.
Such is the state of affairs in the world’s ninth largest economy in nominal GDP terms, and the fifth largest in terms of purchasing power parity, a notional landmark reached last year when India pushed ahead of Britain and France.
In recent years, official propaganda has sought to play up these facts to give ordinary Indians a sense of achievement, and to buoy them with the false feeling that while they may be a developing country they have also arrived and may now be counted alongside those in the big league whose wealth we had so far envied from afar.
The contrived gratification took a beating when thousands upon thousands of the poorest Indians and their families fled India’s big cities on foot for destinations hundreds of kilometers away. They aimed to head back to their villages (in Rajasthan, UP, Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh) from Delhi, Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad, and places in even faraway Kerala and Karnataka.
These were daily income earners. When the lockdown came, they knew they didn’t stand a chance in the big city (to which they had fled from their impoverished village homes to eke out a living). Dick Whittington was not wanted in London any more.
For our poorest citizens, life is lived at the most basic level. If they don’t have earnings at the end of the day, they are invited to starve. And when the exodus began, it was clear to them that they didn’t have money for rent either. 
They were better off on the road, marching in the hot sun, than in staying back in the city. Not since the Partition of India had such images of mass migration been seen. At least then, there may have been hope in some bosoms; now there was only trepidation.
No tabulation is yet available of how many ran away from cities and headed home on hearing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flash announcement of a national lockdown. But it is reasonable to assume that they were from the vast pool variously referred to (with small definitional differences) as informal sector workers, migrant labourers, or casual (non-agriculture sector) workers. 
According to an ILO estimate of 2011-12, of the total labour force in India of 495 million, the overwhelming bulk (90.7 per cent) is from this category. Ten years on, as a rule of thumb, it seems plausible that around 500 million Indians live day-to-day, which means they pretty much go hungry on days they cannot earn.
If this means that close to half the population (taken to be around 1.2 billion) is on the brink of any-time starvation, then it is an indictment. It is also an index of serious structural infirmity of India’s economy, no matter how much we have begun to praise its presumed strengths.
Centre transferred  Rs 500 in every Jan Dhan account when the storm broke. How does this look for the world’s fifth largest economy?
Whatever our finance ministers since Manmohan Singh may have said to shore up morale, and to assure foreign investors that budget deficits will be tightly managed so that the country remains of investment grade, “the fundamentals” of our economy cannot be considered “sound” if there are serious structural limitations. 
India’s GDP per capita (the share of the GDP notionally available to each individual) gives the game away. It mocks the self-adulation summoned by citing total GDP figures or pointing to the economy in terms of purchasing power parity.
World Bank data for 2018 suggests that India ranks a lowly 139th in the world in terms of GDP per capita, which stood at a measly US dollars 2,010. In contrast, China was around USD 9000, Indonesia USD 3,900 (to say nothing of the major western economies, many of which rank behind India in PPP or total GDP terms). 
For perspective, the India-China gap (one is to 4.5 approximately) is similar to the India-Afghanistan gap since the latter’s GDP per capita stood at a meager USD 500 in 2018.
While many of India’s poorest left for their village home on hearing the PM’s instruction for an immediate lockdown, a very large number (again, no data exists) stayed behind because the government, having now turned wise, blocked them from leaving. 
In very large measure, these poorer than poor people have been sustained for the past month or so mostly through personal donations from thousands of good samaritans and the heroic voluntary efforts of many.
Having been associated with this effort in a trifling way for a time, this writer can attest from personal experience that a week’s pack of the most basic foodstuffs for a week for a family of six or seven persons can cost anywhere between Rs750 to around Rs 940. (And we speak of zero cash transfers). 
That’s the scale of the most basic effort the Centre ought to have made. What it did, instead, was to transfer a total of Rs 500 in every Jan Dhan account when the storm broke. How does this look for the world’s fifth largest economy in PPP terms?
---
*Senior journalist based in Delhi. A version of this article was first published in “The Asian Age”

Comments

Chandra Vikash said…
A very informative article. It exposes the utter hypocrisy of the Indian government in collusion with the media, industry and society. Good part is that CoronaVirus might just be the rude shock they needed to wake up from their slumber.

TRENDING

How community leaders overcome obstacles to protect forests and pastures in remote villages

By Bharat Dogra  Dheera Ram Kapaya grew up in such poverty that, unable to attend school himself, he would carry another boy’s heavy school bag for five kilometers just to get a scoop of daliya (porridge). When he was finally able to attend school, he had to leave after class five to join other adolescent workers. However, as soon as opportunities arose, he involved himself in community efforts—promoting forest protection, adult literacy, and other constructive initiatives. His hidden talent for writing emerged during this time, and he became known for the songs and street play scripts he created to promote forest conservation, discourage child marriages, and support other social reforms.

Workers' groups condemn Gujarat Ordinance increasing working hours, warn of statewide agitation

By A Representative   At a consultation organised today by the Asangathit Shramik Hit Rakshak Manch at Circuit House in Ahmedabad, leaders of major trade unions and labour rights organisations strongly opposed the Gujarat government’s recent ordinance amending the Factories Act and the draft rules notified under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Code, 2020. Around 50 representatives from central trade unions, independent unions, and labour welfare organisations participated in the meeting.

Deaths in Chhattisgarh are not just numbers – they mark a deeper democratic crisis

By Sunil Kumar  For a while, I had withdrawn into a quieter life, seeking solace in nature. But the rising tide of state-sponsored violence and recurring conflict across India has compelled deeper reflection. The recent incidents of killings in central India—particularly in Chhattisgarh—are not isolated acts. They point to a larger and ongoing crisis that concerns the health of democracy and the treatment of marginalised communities.

'Bengali Muslim migrant workers face crackdown in Gurgaon': Academic raises alarm

By A Representative   Political analyst and retired Delhi University professor Shamsul Islam has raised serious concerns over the ongoing targeting and detention of Muslim migrant workers from West Bengal in Gurgaon, Haryana. In a public statement, Islam described the situation as "brutal repression" and accused law enforcement agencies of detaining migrants arbitrarily under the pretext of verifying their citizenship.

Gender violence defies stringent laws: The need for robust social capital

By Dr. Manoj Kumar Mishra*  The tragic death of Miss Soumyashree Bisi, a 20-year-old student from Fakir Mohan College, Balasore, who reportedly self-immolated due to harassment, shocked the conscience of Odisha. Even before the public could process this horrifying event, another harrowing case emerged—a 15-year-old girl from Balanga, Puri, was allegedly set ablaze by miscreants. These incidents are not isolated; they highlight a disturbing pattern of rising gender-based violence across the state and the country.

The GMO illusion: Three decades of hype, harm, and false hope

By Sridhar Radhakrishnan  Three decades of hype, billions of dollars spent, and still no miracle crop. It's time to abandon the GMO biotech fairy tale and return to the soil, the seed, and the farmer. “Trust us,” they said. “GMOs will feed the world.” Picture a world where there is plenty of food, no hunger, fields grow without chemical pesticides, children are saved from malnutrition, and people live healthily.

The myth of population decline: India’s real challenge is density, not fertility

By N.S. Venkataraman*   India’s population in 2025 stands at approximately 1.4 billion. In 1950, it was 359 million, rising sharply to 1.05 billion by 2000. The population continues to grow and is projected to reach around 1.7 billion by 2050.

How natural and organic farming can be a key to combating the climate crisis

By Raj Kumar Sinha*  On July 9, while addressing the “Sahkar Samvad” in Ahmedabad with women and workers associated with cooperatives from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, Union Home Minister Amit Shah emphasized that natural farming is essential for both our health and the health of the soil. This is a significant statement in the context of addressing the climate change crisis. Natural farming can play a crucial role in combating climate change. Also known as organic farming, it is a system of agriculture that can increase food production without harming the environment. Natural farming has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 35% to 50%.

Indigenous Karen activist calls for global solidarity amid continued struggles in Burma

By A Representative   At the International Festival for People’s Rights and Struggles (IFPRS), Naw Paw Pree, an Indigenous Karen activist from the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), shared her experiences of oppression, resilience, and hope. Organized with the support of the International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL), the event brought together Indigenous and marginalized communities from across the globe, offering a rare safe space for shared learning, solidarity, and expression.