COVID-19 Lockdown Anniversary: When the world witnessed the biggest human exodus

Today is the first anniversary of COVID-19 induced lockdown in India. On this day March 23, last year Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a stringent lockdown in the country for 21 days to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. One year on, the country is still reeling under the threat of a fresh surge of COVID-19.

"This virus has been spreading very fast across the world. It spreads like wildfire. Looking at the experience of these countries, and what the experts say, the only successful way to tackle the spread of the virus is social distancing," PM Modi said while announcing the lockdown. He described the situation as 'curfew' like.

At that time India was not the only country to face a lockdown. The lockdown came into effect from midnight on March 24. All establishments, including private, commercial, educational, and government, were asked to remain shut.

The streets had a deserted look. India's nationwide lockdown was one of the most stringent lockdowns in the world. The essential goods and services were completely or partially suspended. Passenger trains and flights were halted.

But the biggest tragedy and impact of the lockdown was the migrant crisis that was termed as the biggest human exodus since the partition of the country in 1947. The lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 left lakhs of migrant workers stranded in big cities without work.

While experts and health professionals termed the lockdown as a good decision, it proved catastrophic for India's millions of migrant and daily wage workers, who earn their livelihood far away from their homes to distant lands live a hand-to-mouth existence.

With no way to earn money and feed their families, millions decided to head back to their villages seeing their uncertain future. Hundreds of thousands of them began long journeys to home on foot, sometimes over distances of more than 1,000 km. Some died on the way due to illness, while others died in road accidents. Some died of exhaustion after walking home in the scorching heat.

Government stand on the migrant crisis
The Labour Ministry said that according to the government's centralized database, over 1.04 crore migrants returned to their home states, with Uttar Pradesh receiving the highest number of workers at 32.4 lakh. This was followed by Bihar at 15 lakh and Rajasthan, which recorded the return of 13 lakh migrants.

However, the Centre informed Parliament that there is no data available on the number of migrant workers who lost their lives during the exodus.