'Had to borrow money': Migrant workers struggle for healthcare in lockdown

Structural exclusion from urban health systems and lack of support from employers are some of the problems they faced in second wave of Covid-19.

Routinely excluded from urban healthcare systems, India's migrant workers struggled to find medical help for Covid-19 and other diseases during the second wave of the pandemic, a recent survey by labour rights organisation Aajeevika Bureau found. They also had trouble accessing free Covid-19 vaccines.

Of the migrant workers interviewed in the first week of May 2021, 27% had Covid-19 or other diseases during the second surge. Of them, 70% struggled to find treatment, 58% got no support from their employers and 62% were forced to borrow heavily to cover the healthcare costs, shows Aajeevika's telephonic survey of 195 migrant workers