Hunger fears as millions of India's migrant labourers go without food supplies

Fewer than one in five of the 80 million migrant labourers allocated food aid by the Indian Government received supplies in May and June, according to new data.

Eleven states – including Jharkhand, Odisha and Tamil Nadu – did not even distribute one per cent of the aid they were lifted, with activists fearing increased food insecurity over the upcoming months.

India is struggling to contain the world’s fourth-largest Covid-19 outbreak with over 600,000 cases and a peak not predicted until November.

The Indian Government has said that it successfully transported 800,000 metric tonnes of grain to state authorities in May for distribution, something activists also confirmed to the Telegraph.

Bureaucratic issues at a local level halted food from reaching those on the ground, explains Anindita Adhikari, of the Stranded Workers Action Network (SWAN) NGO.

Ms Adhikari works in the northern state of Haryana and there, as in other states across India, there is no database of the permanent addresses of millions of transient migrant labourers.

The Haryana Government has had to begin a “painstaking” process of trying to identify millions of those who have returned and are in need, across an area twice the size of Wales, with physical verification during a pandemic.

“The government has really been struggling with distribution and had to begin a household survey across the entire state which requires people on the ground,” explains Ms. Adhikari.

“In many informal settlements where migrants used to live they have also emptied out after the pandemic began”.

In the state of Bihar, fewer than 15,000 food distribution sites are currently active out of a total of 46,842, as the authorities struggle to pinpoint returning migrants.

The Indian Government has not provided an explanation for why only 13 percent of its food aid reached its destination but its failure to publish eligibility criteria has also hampered states’ efforts across the country.

From scratch, states had to design and process applications and in Haryana, there have been repeated delays in processing these new identification forms.

“In the state of Bihar, for the returnee migrants, their names first have to be recorded and then shared with food dealers which is a long drawn out process,” explains Ranu Bhogal, the Director of Oxfam India.

“In the case of the state of Chattisgarh, for the returnee migrants, their names first have to be recorded by an elected village council member and verified and then only the new ration cards will be issued.

“It goes without saying that the processes are not only cumbersome but riddled with corruption and it is not a matter of surprise that many deserving people have been excluded from accessing the free rations that the government has released”.

In other states, migrants were required to provide documentation – such as an Aadhar Card – which they either did not possess or had lost during traumatic journeys home.

Supply-chain issues have also played a part, as the transport of all non-essential goods were completely curtailed across India between March 25 and June 1, with a draconian lockdown in place to slow the spread of Covid-19.

Activists raised the alarm as early as April, after an investigation by India Today showed that NGOs had fed more people than the government in 13 Indian states.

The Indian Government data shows that many migrant labourers are still struggling to survive and relying on NGOs, with SWAN emergency contacted by around 2,000 groups of starving migrants in June in the states of Delhi and Haryana alone.

On Tuesday, Mr Modi announced an extension of a wider relief package until November which promises free food for roughly 800 million beneficiaries.

It has said that it is also investigating why such a small percentage of its food aid has reached those in need so far.

“Some states are not distributing foodgrain to the poor. It is a matter of concern… they should be sensitive to the poor…. we have no problem in providing food grain to states,” said Mr Ram Paswan, the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution.

“When it is being given free, I don’t understand the problem in distribution. We are taking this issue seriously”

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