Covid-19 impact: 6 months on, migrants caught between hope and despair

Lockdown bruises still fresh in their minds, it's now a fight for survival

Ramesh Chand Srivastava was 15 years old when his father’s sudden death changed his life forever. Chand’s brother-in-law took him from Pachdevra village in Prayagraj (earlier known as Allahabad) to Mumbai and gave him a job at his garment factory. Srivastava, who is 46 now, had to return to his village from the ‘city of dreams’ for the first time in over three decades after the government enforced a national lockdown in March to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

For Srivastava, Mumbai was home, and he makes it a point to mention that his Aadhaar card has Dharavi,