We started work among migrant returnees in the tribal villages of Jharkhand last year when a sudden and strict lockdown was declared as a response to Covid-19. A deadly second wave of coronavirus infections is devastating India, leaving millions of people infected and putting stress on the country’s already overburdened health care system. By the end of April 2021, more than 17.9 million infections have been confirmed and more than 200,000 people were dead according to official statistics. However, experts say that the actual figures are likely to be much higher. In the same period, India was responsible for more than half of the world’s daily Covid-19 cases, setting a record-breaking pace of more than 300,000 new infections a day.

The healthcare system in rural India, especially in remote tribal villages is awfully poor and is not equipped to handle a pandemic like this. The health facilities in urban centres are already bursting at the seams and it does not make sense to refer rural patients to urban hospitals. What is happening at present is that people are literally falling dead in the villages with no safety protocols being followed. The government is in an all-out fight to address the crisis in urban centres and rural areas are totally neglected, even information is not collected.

On the other hand, the reverse migration of labourers from cities, in large numbers is creating chaos in extremely poor villages. There is shortage of food and a steep drop in living standards leading to conflicts. Unable to be mute spectators, Development Focus is extending our initiatives to Odisha and Mizoram and will still continue in Jharkhand. We will focus on the following interventions: