Assam: 35 Labourers caught in Sivasagar, Quarantined in School without Beds or 'Social Distancing'

Guwahati, April 25, 2020:

With as many as 36 patients in the state having tested positive for the new coronavirus or COVID-19, the local police force in Assam has beefed up security in all the districts. However, time and again, migrant labourers have found themselves in the crosshairs of the local administration amid the nationwide lockdown.

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Recently, a rag-tag bunch of 35 labourers -- mostly tribals and belonging to the minority community -- from the Karbi Anglong and Golaghat districts who had found employment as daily-wage labourers in Sivasagar, decided to walk home when their contractor tried to wipe his hands clean of any responsibility towards his employees. After fending for them for a while after the lockdown was announced, the contractor asked them to get going, much to their dismay. Unable to find food and ration, they decided to return home on foot. However, fate would not be so kind.

Three days ago, the eyes of the Bihubor Police Station authorities in Nazira alighted on these migrants. Accused of breaking lockdown norms, they were immediately nabbed. However, the police, riddled as to what to do with these labourers, decided to "quarantine" them inside a local school. For both their protection and ours, you would assume? Well, not exactly so. This story has further twists.

[caption id="attachment_57831" align="alignnone" width="660"] The migrants are being kept in a school[/caption]

Assam's Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia, who distributed essential items to these labourers earlier today, believes that the local authorities have failed in properly handling the situation. "Police caught these 35 labourers for violating lockdown rules, but they now do not know what to do with them. Bound by duty, they hastily put them inside a school, however, stripped of funds, they cannot even feed them well."

[caption id="attachment_57832" align="alignnone" width="660"] Social Distancing norms are not being followed[/caption]

The condition of these labourers caught during the lockdown, Saikia informs, is deplorable. "These people do not have proper beds to sleep on, and thus they are prone to other illnesses and infections as well. No social distancing protocol is being maintained, which means corona could come knocking at any moment. These migrants, it seems, have fallen from the frying pan into the fire. They are being given two meals each day, but that is it."

Pictures from the school where these migrants are being quarantined reveals the stark reality of the lockdown for the underprivileged. The 35 people do not have beds; instead, they are being given cots to sleep. They are being "separated" (psst. social distancing) by classroom benches. 4 policemen stand guard lest they escape from their makeshift quarantine centre.

[caption id="attachment_57833" align="alignnone" width="660"] "They do not have beds. They sleep on cots. They live in classrooms."[/caption]

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Many people who are stranded amid the lockdown, apparently, have been unable to get in touch with the administration via the 104 helpline number that has been given to facilitate the one-time passage of people to native districts. "They could not reach the helpline, or maybe there was some server error. Bottom line is, they were unable to reach the Government to seek for help, which means the helpline is not foolproof. There are several such complaints", says Saikia.

Many stranded persons are in a hopeless situation in the sub-division, according to Saikia, who has claimed that the district administration is also not able to provide transport as promised by the Government. Saikia has intimated the Assam Transport Minister Chandramohan Patowary about the situation. "The Transport Minister asked me to inform the MD of the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) to inform him about the plight of these migrants. So, let's see."

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