ABSTRACT
Aman Abhishek's piece on the media during the migrant crisis in the wake of the pandemic of COVID-19 is timely. Many good-hearted journalists indeed thought that notwithstanding a definite pattern in the media coverage, the media by and large played a commendable role in bringing the “migrant question” to the public eye. Solidarity initiatives were local, and mostly spontaneous. The much-reviled NGOs, independent groups and associations, and localised political forces fared better. The media not only facilitated the incorporation of the issue of migrant workers into the agenda of neoliberal reforms, the orientation of media response was also instrumental in “awakening” institutionalised politics in a particular way to the presence of the migrant workers. The crisis, using public health concerns, led to a restructuring of the economy.
