For migrants, hunger deadlier than Covid Labour economists have highlighted how the loss of work and the absence of govt support are forcing people to leave their workplaces Aslam Ansari has had no work for the past four days. The migrant worker wants to go back home not for fear of catching Covid but to escape starvation. The tailor and his family of six live in a one-room dwelling close to Kalwa police station in Thane, near Mumbai. On Thursday, the family from Dumri block in Giridih, Jharkhand, had rations to last just three to four days. “Once the food runs out, we’ll return to Jharkhand. I have tried very hard; there’s no work now,” said Aslam, who worked at a factory, stitching clothes for small children and earning about Rs 15,000 a month.