-The Hindu The 21-day lockdown has suddenly left several thousand workers in the informal sector without jobs and any means of sustenance. It is around 3 p.m. Carrying luggage on their backs and wearing black masks, seven men, visibly fatigued, are signalled to stop by a policeman who hurriedly jumps out of his vehicle at Rajiv Chowk on the Delhi-Gurugram highway. The officer makes a few inquiries before letting them off, asking...

-The Indian Express Left stranded by a nationwide lockdown, which has halted all public transport, hundreds of labourers devoid of work have started leaving big cities on foot. Ahmedabad, Jaipur, New Delhi, Vadodra: Antresh Kumar, 21, started walking at 3 am on Wednesday from Dharampuri in Najafgarh, South West Delhi. Facing the prospect of no work due to the 21-day lockdown, the daily wager decided that heading home to Moradabad in Uttar...

-The Indian Express In a slew of extraordinary measures, authorities announced a complete lockdown of 75 districts in 22 States and Union Territories and suspended all passenger trains, inter-state buses and metro services across the country till March 31. As the Janata Curfew called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi wound up Sunday with people across the country responding by staying indoors and applauding those working to battle the coronavirus threat, the government...

-Livemint.com * The crisis has led to a mass exodus of migrant labour back to their villages, mainly in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh * From those working in restaurants to those making a living by ironing clothes in the neighbourhood, daily wagers are finding it difficult to make ends meet New Delhi: Ashok Kumar, a 42-year-old carpenter, lives in the Rohini area of the national capital and survives on work that he gets...

-The Indian Express The slowdown has hit these workers the hardest. Faced with the prospect of not being able to earn any money until the end of the month, most decided it was better to return to their homes. Mumbai, Pune: As shops and establishments prepared to shut down following a Maharashtra government order that all private businesses and companies must remain closed from Saturday until March 31, an exodus began in...