The World is witnessing a catastrophe in the form of a viral disease commonly known as Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread through severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) which was first identified in the capital of Hubei province, Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization declared the virus outbreak to be a pandemic on the 11th of March 2020. Since then the world is collectively trying to fight this catastrophe which endangers human life. Till now nearly 500,000 positive cases have been reported and by the time I am writing this article, the death toll nears 22,000.

The cases in India and worldwide have increased rapidly. The doctors all over the world have been trying to find it’s a cure but none received success yet. To break the chain of the virus spread, people are asked to maintain physical distance and total hygiene. Humanity is experiencing a global lockdown. Countries are shutting themselves down and requesting their citizens to stay quarantined in their homes. Huge budgets have been passed by countries and their governments to aid their healthcare system for the survival of their nationals during this pandemic.

The WHO’s motto for this virus outbreak is ‘Test, Test and Test’. Worldwide, countries are spending huge amounts just to test their populace for free. South Korea has set up temporary testing centres inside phone booths for testing its “nationals” free of cost. Many nations worldwide have started testing their citizens for free, a way of curbing the disease outspread. Huge amounts of budgets are being passed by countries to fight this pandemic.

The US announced 2 trillion dollar budget to fight the catastrophe for it’s the population of 32 crores whereas the Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau announced 82 billion Canadian dollars package (above 3% of Canada’s GDP) granting direct and immediate assistance to Canadians. A sum of 27 billion Canadian dollars is specifically allocated for the working class of the country. Several such packages have been announced by other countries with a focus to support their working-class and their survival.

In India, till now more than 700 cases have been reported and about 13 deaths. Considering the grave situation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21 days countrywide lockdown at 8 pm on the eve of 24th march 2020 giving the populace a time window of 4 hours of preparation amidst which the optics were chaotic. Furthermore, a preliminary package of 15000 Crore was announced by the Indian Prime Minister to fight the disaster following which the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman announced a budget of 1.7 lakh crore of rupees to tackle the disastrous situation. For optics, the amount looks huge however we must not forget that India is a home of over 130 crore poor and working class. The poor and working-class in India has ‘Caste’ which is lower in social strata. However, there is a huge survival challenge for the poorest of the poor during the pandemic, the socially downtrodden. In India, the untouchables, Adivasis and backward castes comprise of the section of people who are socially depressed. The poor, the daily wagers, the labours, the sanitation workers, the sweepers, the cleaners etc are the ones who comprise of this sect of the society. The mentioned section is the one who would suffer the most during the 21 days lockdown and pay the biggest cost. And if in any case this lockdown continues, it would be disastrous for them.

The first case of coronavirus was reported in November 2019 in China, since then it has spread manifold. In India, it was first reported on January 30, 2020. Till then the situation was drastic in the world and keeping in mind the Indian populace the Indian Government should have taken preemptive measures which it clearly failed at. Agencies should have been appointed to track those returning from foreign countries and thus keeping a watch of their quarantine period very strictly. Additionally, the individuals returning from the affected countries must also bear the brunt of the destruction of health and humanity on whose verge we are collectively standing on. Clearly, the business class and the means of manufacture is in the hands of upper castes along with the government and its machinery. Hence they are the ones to be blamed for this catastrophe.

Nevertheless, this is not of much concern to me. The turmoil and disaster in which we are standing, right in the middle, gives me immense pain while thinking about my people. Since the announcement of the lockdown period the daily wagers, labours, landless, homeless, “migrants” inside their own country are forced to leave their temporary slums in the urban areas and vacate the cities in which they settled while searching a mean to earn their daily bread and survive. Visuals are pouring in over social media from the whole country depicting this large section of society are made to flee the cities to back to their villages. In Mumbai on 26th March, the cops found a group of 300 migrant workers leaving the city hidden in two container trucks. When some of them were interviewed the only answer received was that there was no way they could have survived in cities without their work, they would have died due to starvation if not Corona. For instance, a few days ago, pictures of children from the Muhsar community (which rely upon menial daily wage tasks) eating grass for their survival was circulating on social media.

When medically checked up, it was found that their intestines had dried and shrunk due to starvation and malnutrition. The lockdown assured that no public transportation operates which worsened the plight of this sect of the society as they continue to walk for hundreds of miles to complete their journeys. A large number of people are gathering outside Raen Baseras in cities in search of food making them more vulnerable to the virus outbreak as this breaks the protocol of physical distancing. In another video, the sect is being dealt brutally by forces if they see them outside on roads. In one such video, a young labourer was seen crying while describing police brutality on him. The ones trying to reach their homes are beaten brutally, abused, made to roll over the ground in some videos by the forces.

The ones stranded, have been left to survive on their fate in such harsh conditions with no income and food. If they remain home the hunger would kill them and if not hunger, the disease. And somehow if, they survive both, they are brutalized by the forces when they go out in search of food or work. Such is the chaos they suffer only because the State failed to address the issue timely and took decisions in haywire conditions. Furthermore, the sect of cleaners, sweepers and sanitation workers are also being neglected. Evidently, the workers in the sector are working without basic protection gears which would prevent them from being contaminated.

These people belong to the sector which is one of the most vulnerable to this disease and they are equally essential to doctors during this time. The incompetency of the government in providing them with basic protection gears speaks volumes of its bias. With no means of to earn, no food, no shelter, no healthcare, no safety my people have been abandoned and ostracized to survive on their own.

Some would argue that the Government today itself passed a “huge” budget of 1.7 lakh crore to help the populace fight the pandemic. For me, it is much of a sham. The highlights of the budget are:

1. Rupees 500 per month to women having JanDhan Yojana accounts for 3 months.
2. Free gas cylinders to households registered under Ujjwala Yojana.
3. A mere Rupees 20 hike in MNREGA wages.
4. Rupees 2000 of the first instalments promised marginal farmers for 3 months of their survival.
5. Additional 5 kg of rice/wheat and 1 kg of pulses per family per month.
6. No insurance cover for Sanitiation Workers.

These are some of the peanuts offered by the BJP government which claims to be the most “Socialist” government of all times.

Why did the government not keep hygiene as its primitive measure in controlling the spread of the virus? In almost all the countries, the test is free of cost while in India it costs more than the average monthly income of a poor family. The rates of sanitizers and masks hiked drastically, which again is unaffordable and unreachable for most of the people falling under the below poverty line category. No steps were taken towards the maintenance of hygiene in the slum areas where are the most prone to catching the virus.

Can any of the people in power survive on the “alms” which they have promised to the most downtrodden and vulnerable section of the society during a time when they have no other means to earn and fill their starving stomach? What is the fate of the sect of people who are unregistered and have no resources or to get access to these alms? Had the government and it’s agencies shown the muscles to its caste brethren and contained the spread of the virus the same way they have dealt with my people, we would not be standing between a cliff and a well. The Brahmin/Baniya nexus has secured their lives and health leaving the ‘untouchables’ and the backwards of the society to fight for their survival against the disease or hunger and if they do survive this catastrophe, interminable poverty awaits them and their generations. Henceforth, one more time, the CASTES in India played it’s role again.

The author could be reached on Twitter at @believe_0369