Lost In Lockdown: Lakhs Of Porters’ Families Pushed To The Brink Of Starvation

Lakhs of migrant workers and daily wage labourers in the country have borne the brunt of the nationwide lockdown currently in place. Among them is a large proportion of those lakhs of coolies (porters) who have no work after trains stopped plying. 

In its previous tenure, to make life better for them, the Modi government had given coolies the status of ‘sahayak’ (assistants) but they have been completely forgotten in the lockdown. 

No economic package has been announced for them by either the Railway Ministry or the Central government.

The livelihood of porters is dependent on the plying of trains and he believes that it will take a long time for his life to get back on track.

Porters are present in large numbers at big stations of metro cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata but they are also found at thousands of small stations across the country.

For them, it is proving so difficult to sustain themselves and their families that they are taking loans from money lenders at high interest rates.

Jhansi’s Karim Mekrani says that in 2008, coolies were recruited for the post of ‘gangman’ and the current government should also make a similar arrangement.

Ahmedabad’s Samir says that at present, coolies are ready to work as daily wage labourers so that they can find some means of sustenance.

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