“My wife calls up and urges me to get home anyhow,” said Kumar, one of 1,500 workers at the site. Without such welfare, India could be facing a full-blown humanitarian crisis, especially if the government decides to extend the lockdown, experts say. The Indian government is monitoring the situation “very closely” and will ensure no one goes without food, said a top government official involved in the government food welfare scheme, who sought anonymity in line with government policy. Activists say India is in a comfortable position to give handouts to the needy as mounds of rice, wheat and sugar in brimming granaries leave little space for new season harvests. At the New Delhi construction site, Kumar and other labourers sleep on narrow bunks in small, fly-ridden rooms, depending on erratic supplies of food from a nonprofit.

Source: The Express Tribune April 10, 2020 11:37 UTC