New Delhi: "Soon after the lockdown will end, I will come home to meet you," Mohammad Shenuf Ansari told his family, echoing what most of the labourers trapped in Delhi due to COVID-19 lockdown felt, being unable to make a living or go home to be with their loved ones.
Ansari, a native of Garhwa, Jharkhand, was working as a labourer in Dwarka for the last three months. But after the lockdown, he was stuck in Delhi. His family of eight is anxiously waiting for him to return. "I assure them that whenever lockdown will be over, I will arrive there quickly. I tell them to take care of themselves," Ansari said.
He and 2,000 other labourers are currently living at a construction site in Dwarka Sector 23. Few poor labourers have mobile phones with them which are the only sources for reaching out to their families. Another labourer Sugario Sharma, a native of Gorakhpur
was earning between Rs 5,000 to 6,000, which he used to send to his family of five in
Uttar Pradesh but after the lockdown, their livelihoods came to a halt.
Sharma said whenever he calls his family, they ask about his safety and he assures them that he is alright and they should take care of themselves. "We can't do anything. I told my family to spend as little as possible. If you used to spend Rs 50 on something, now you need to spend half," he said. Trivendera Kumar, another labourer said he always misses his family in Aligarh. "I told my kids that I will meet them soon."
45-year-old Lakhan Singh, a construction labourer said he used to earn Rs 300-400 per day. "My family lives in Agra. Due to the present situation, they are tensed. I am also stuck here. I have told them to take a loan if need arises."
According to these labourers, they are regularly supplied with food and dry rations by the Dwarka Police, good samaritans and their construction company. "There are around 2,000 labourers at the construction site,
who are regularly being provided with food. We also raise awareness among them about the lockdown and give them assurances," said a police official.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Anto Alphonse said that they are regularly reaching out to the needy people with food and essential items. "We are serving more than 30,000 needy people every day. Self-help groups have also contributed during the crisis," he said.