Rahaman Margubur, Roy Avijit, Chouhan Pradip, Das Kailash Chandra, Rana Md Juel
Department of Migration and Urban Studies, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, 400088 India.
Department of Geography, University of Gour Banga, Malda, West Bengal 732103 India.
Indian J Labour Econ. 2021;64(3):787-802. doi: 10.1007/s41027-021-00327-9. Epub 2021 Sep 1.
The lockdown during the first phase of COVID-19 pandemic in India triggered an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Labourers in the informal sector lost their jobs overnight and were stuck at their work places. The present study examines the risk of COVID-19 transmission among stranded migrant labourers and their livelihood challenges during the lockdown. A telephonic survey was conducted during the lockdown of first wave of COVID-19 pandemic to collect information from the stranded migrant labourers. The non-probability snowball sampling technique and structured questionnaire were used to draw the sample. Simple frequency distribution and standard statistical methods were used to accomplish the study objectives. The factors of COVID-19 transmission such as poor housing, co-morbidities, poor practice of WASH and COVID-19 precautions were significantly high among the migrant labourers. The lockdown created livelihood crisis among them. For instance, ration shortage (86%), financial distress (82%), reduction of wages (13%), job loss (86%) and anxiety for COVID-19 infection (81%) were often seen. Many of the labourers did not receive any ration kits (30%) and financial assistance (86%) during lockdown. The governmental assistance to overcome the stranded migrant labourers' challenges during lockdown was less than desirable. India needs to frame a sustainable and effective policy for social security for labourers, particularly in emergency situations.
印度新冠疫情第一阶段的封锁引发了一场前所未有的人道主义危机。非正规部门的劳动者一夜之间失去了工作，被困在工作地点。本研究调查了被困农民工中新冠病毒传播的风险以及封锁期间他们面临的生计挑战。在新冠疫情第一波封锁期间进行了一项电话调查，以收集被困农民工的信息。采用非概率滚雪球抽样技术和结构化问卷抽取样本。使用简单频率分布和标准统计方法来实现研究目标。在农民工中，住房条件差、合并症、水卫生和新冠预防措施执行不力等新冠病毒传播因素的比例显著较高。封锁给他们带来了生计危机。例如，经常出现口粮短缺（86%）、经济困难（82%）、工资减少（13%）、失业（86%）以及对新冠感染的焦虑（81%）。许多劳动者在封锁期间没有收到任何口粮包（30%）和经济援助（86%）。政府在封锁期间为克服被困农民工面临的挑战所提供的援助不尽人意。印度需要制定一项可持续且有效的劳动者社会保障政策，尤其是在紧急情况下。
