Thousands of migrant workers queue in desperate attempt to return to their home villages as a strict lockdown is enforced. (Photo: Gulam Jeelani/Pankaj Nangia/India Today)
In late January, the first case of Coronavirus was reported in India, the world’s second-largest country, but in recent weeks the number of infections has climbed rapidly. Health researchers have warned that over a million people could be infected by mid-May. The main fears surrounding Coronavirus spread in India is that it would overwhelm the public health sector and that the virus would run rampant through impoverished communities. In order to contain the spread of the virus, on March 24, 2020, India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, declared a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, closing air and train travel, businesses and schools. No one is allowed to leave their homes, with the narrow exception of leaving to get food or medicine between the hours of 7 AM and 2 PM.
CLICK HERE TO HELP FAI CONFRONT CORONAVIRUS
FAI India field teams are gearing up to serve in their rural communities to provide food, medicine, and health education to impoverished communities which are under-served and highly vulnerable to coronavirus. This is a critical and timely effort with unique opportunities. Will you partner with us?
It is ironic that, in light of these fears and the nationwide lockdown, that India is currently experiencing one of the largest migrations in the country’s modern history, where hundreds of thousands of migrant workers across India are beginning the arduous journey by foot back to their villages from the densely populated cities where they have been living and working. These migrant workers from such metropolitan centers as New Delhi and Mumbai, often worked and slept in the same place and lived day-to-day, and have been made homeless and jobless by the recent lockdown. Carrying pots and pans and children on their backs, they are sometimes walking hundreds of miles along the interstate highways in order to get back to their home villages. However, they are often beaten and turned back at police checkpoints as they attempt to cross into another state. There are already reports of at least a dozen deaths due to police brutality.
Should migrant workers make it back to their villages, another hardship awaits them. Food supply chains, already stretched thin in metropolitan areas, are almost non-existent in the villages. When walking to the shop a mile away, our team member queued for an hour, and was only able to get some cookies and chocolates for his family—all other food was simply gone. In addition to the lack of food, sanitary items such as soap, hand sanitizer, etc. are in short supply. With a health system already stretched, abuses of police power, mass migration, unreliable supply chains of food and sanitary items, India could be sitting on a Coronavirus powder keg.
Our FAI field teams in India request that you join them in prayer, that they would have means and opportunity to serve rural communities during this difficult time, that the police would grant them a lockdown exception to distributing food and medication, and that God would extend his hand in mercy towards India. Pray for the health, wellbeing, and provision for all who are serving.
To learn more about FAI’s work in India and to give towards initiatives in India, go here.
