Ayaz Qureshi

The o ngoing COVID-19 pandemic has affected us all in our personal and professional capacities. While we seek ways to minimise the adverse effects of this situation on our own lives, we are aware that some sections of society everywhere are more affected than others and are more vulnerable to the pandemic induced economic lockdown and restrictions. People with underlying health conditions and those with particular demographic, social and economic backgrounds are most affected. Among these are migrant workers as we have witnessed in recent weeks in our region and across the world. With economic activities coming to a near standstill, many daily wagers in urban areas were suddenly off work as were the salaried factory workers laid off without any notice or benefits. Restriction on mobility added to their woes as many, who wanted to travel back home after losing their means of subsistence in the cities, were stranded on roads and humiliated by authorities for breaking the lockdown. Back i...