An estimated 10 million workers were forced to walk home, travelling via fields, forests and highways in the scorching sun.
Yadav, 34, a construction worker, vowed never to return to the city. "I felt betrayed twice: by society, because no one around me lent a hand- my landlord kicked me out - and by the state. I trusted the prime minister Narendra] Modi to help me in a once-in-a-lifetime crisis," he said.
But when he failed to find work in his village, he had no choice but to return to the city, only to find himself in an even worse situation than before. Like millions of others, he is poorer, hungrier and feels abandoned in the wake of the pandemic.
An estimated 400 million people work in India's informal sector, on low daily wages and with no contract, pension, paid holidays or health benefits. The vast majority are not unionised.
Denne historien er fra December 02, 2022-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Denne historien er fra December 02, 2022-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Finn family murals
The optimism that runs through Finnish artist Tove Jansson's Moomin stories also appears in her public works, now on show in a Helsinki exhibition
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