ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic hit India as a bolt from the blue. A disease which not many had heard of, extremely contagious spreading through bodily fluids and personal contacts would be a disaster in a densely populated country with low levels of hygiene. The fear of large-scale mortalities loomed large and the only option for the state was to declare a complete lockdown so as to prevent the spread of the contagion. However, in the rush to impose a cordon sanitaire, the impact on urban labour, one of the most marginalised groups was ignored. This chapter focuses on Dalit labour in the cities and their disastrous experiences of the pandemic, which exacerbated the existing social faultlines. In the process, the state also revealed its aphantasia when the scenes of migrants walking on the roads to reach their homelands revealed their precarity. The chapter is based on personal interactions and published data.
