The lockdown has made it difficult for everyone to keep calm. People isolated at home are restless about their future. The frontline warriors are worried about the ceaseless number of patients, the contagious nature of the virus and its mortality rate. The labourers are desperate to go to their hometowns. In other words, COVID pandemic has managed to make every single human being feel uncomfortable and insecure at the moment.

With a lot of efforts the state borders have finally been opened up for the labourers so that they can go back to their villages and home towns and the government has started special trains and buses for the same purpose, but while  it is one man’s joy, it is another’s nightmare-- the frontline workers are a very harried lot during this time, even more than what they were during the onset of the virus crisis. Now that all these labourers are moving through trains, trucks or on foot, it is up to the frontline workers to maintain the discipline and social distancing protocols while the exodus happens. 

 “There are more than 2000 people lined up to go to the railway station. In their eagerness, they have forgotten about the social distancing protocols and it is upto us to keep asking them to maintain distance. Honestly, it is a risky job that we all are doing here while trying to manage the huge crowds. I have already had forty of my staff showing symptoms of coughing and fever and I cannot risk more personnel’s lives now, but I am also helpless. I can-not choose not to do my job,” exclaimed Prakash Madhav (name changed on request), appointed by the department of home, state government of Haryana in Gurgaon to assist with the movement  of the migrant labourers.  

 It is anyone’s guess, how difficult it is to control and monitor a huge mass of population travelling, along with the vulnerable age groups right from kids below the age of 10 to aging people. This is harrowing for all the frontline workers right from policemen, the municipal workers, cleaners, and the staff employed to issue them passes and register them. 

 “We’ve sanitized every possible place on this train. But when the labourers come in, we wouldn’t know who is safe and who is infected,” said Dhiraj, a young boy working with the sanitization department of the railways. Though most people understand the scare of corona, but in their eagerness to catch the train, they forgot its basic rule of social distancing.

The government has made protocols to not overload the train so as to keep sufficient space between two people, has marked circles on the ground when standing in queues but  it comes to the policemen and the railway police to then ensure that people adhere to it. For that they have to individually ask, or physically move the person to his rightful spot, thereby exposing themselves to the other person.

This has mentally exhausted these frontline workers—repeating and reminding people about the same things, following their own safety protocols, standing for  long hours in the heat doing their jobs,  answering the incessant questions people have, and retiring home after very very long days.

It has also led them to becoming irritable, losing patience, feeling worked up all the time, and in general an angry lot of people.

They need to

• Distance themselves emotionally from the job
• Ensure that they take care of their meals, health, and requirements like hydration

Since the times are tough, they will need every ounce of their mental health to keep  themselves going.