Six months after a national lockdown was imposed, I travelled to 5 villages of Allahabad (now known as Prayagraj) to talk to over two dozen migrant workers who returned home.

"Nothing feels like home" for them as they struggle to make ends meet.

https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/covid-19-impact-6-months-on-migrants-caught-between-hope-and-despair-120092800027_1.html

Ramesh Chand (right) was 15 yrs old when his brother-in-law took him to Mumbai & gave him a job at his garment factory after his father died. Srivastava (now 46), who had made the 'city of dreams' his own, wasnt paid for during the lockdown even by his guardian.

According to official estimates, about 10 million workers returned to their home states after the lockdown. Close to one-third belonged to Uttar Pradesh and Allahabad saw the second highest reverse migration in the state (over 100,000).

Bruises of the lockdown are still fresh in their minds. Meet 54-year-old Rajendar, who had to pedal his bicycle for two days to cover the 150 km distance from Rewa in Madhya Pradesh to Matiyara, a village on the outskirts of Prayagraj.

“I carried chickpeas to feed myself, stopped at roadside dhabas for sleepovers & navigated through police atrocities. I am scared to go back, but I have 3 children to feed,” Rajendar says. His application for Mudra loan to start a grocery shop was recently turned down by a bank.

At the village pradhan's office in Matiyara, a poster was put up promoting the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Yojana launched by PM @narendramodi on June 20 to give jobs to returnee migrants. The poster is all that the 40 returnee migrants, who havent found a job yet, know about the scheme.

In Prayagraj, local job opportunities are few because, with a slowdown in consumption, small businesses have cut production. I visited a factory that produces pickles & tomato ketchup in Matiyara. It has employed 11 workers, instead of the 18 that it had in pre-COVID days.

With no government support in sight, Ghanshyam Patel (28), who used to earn Rs 15,000 a month in Surat, decided to borrow Rs 5,000 from his friends to set up a fruit stall near Chandpur village. “I will try my luck till Diwali. If nothing works, I will have to go back,” he says.

None of the workers that I interviewed received wages during the lockdown despite the government’s directive to the contrary. 

The government's March 29, 2020 order (withdrawn in May) had called for compulsory wage payment to workers during lockdown. https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/govt-withdraws-order-on-compulsory-wage-payment-by-firms-during-lockdown-120051800793_1.html

In fact, many workers returned home leaving behind their belongings in cities where their landlord continues to charge them a monthly rent. They fear going back due to the accumulated arrears. There was no rent waiver during the lockdown either despite govt diktat.

Most complain that the village administration has done little to help them secure a source of income.
Yet returning to the cities in search of a livelihood is an uphill task, owing to the high cost of travel, esp since the Indian Railways hasn’t fully resumed its train services.

Mohammad Chand (in red), who started working in the cities at the age of 18 about 8 yrs ago, has been visiting labour chowks in Prayagraj city. But his efforts have been to no avail and Chand has stopped making his daily trips to the city. “Nothing feels like home,” he says.