A security crackdown during a protest in Delhi prevented daily-wage workers and employees from reaching workplaces in Khan Market, Nizamuddin and areas near India Gate on October 10, with several workers saying they risked losing a day’s income because they did not have identity cards or permits.
The Hindu reported that police personnel stopped migrant labourers and staff at barricades leading into central Delhi. Many of those affected worked in small shops, cafes, advertising offices and construction sites. Security personnel reportedly turned them away when they were unable to establish their identity through valid documents.
Devender Chauhan, who was travelling on a scooter with his wife, said she was employed at a cafe in central Delhi and was wearing her work uniform when they were stopped at the Nizamuddin barricade. He said the advertising company where he worked in Khan Market had asked him to open the shop, but roads leading to the area were closed.
“Look at her uniform; the company’s name is written here, but they are not allowing us to go,” Mr. Chauhan said, according to The Hindu. He also said he had checked other routes but found them closed.
The restrictions affected workers whose incomes depend on daily attendance. Mukesh Chauhan, a 47-year-old electrician employed at a central Delhi work site, said he was stopped while travelling by motorcycle. He told The Hindu that he earned about ₹9,000 a month and would lose his daily wage if he could not reach work. He also said he had already spent about ₹100 on petrol for the journey.
At another barricade leading towards India Gate, Ram Kishan Mandal, 36, was stopped along with other daily-wage workers headed to a construction site. He said police personnel told them they did not have permission to proceed. Although their employer asked them to walk to the site, they were still not allowed through, he said.
Mr. Mandal, who is from Bihar, said his home in the State had been destroyed in a recent flood and that his wife and children were living under a tarpaulin roof. He said missing work would mean losing the day’s wage needed to support his family and rebuild the house.
The disruption highlights how security barriers intended to control movement during protests can also block access to workplaces for people whose employment is informal, low-paid or dependent on same-day attendance. Workers without formal identity cards or written permits faced particular difficulty in demonstrating that they had legitimate reasons to enter the restricted areas.
The Hindu’s report also records Mr. Chauhan recalling similar restrictions during an earlier protest in June and July, when Khan Market was barricaded and people were unable to leave for about two hours. The latest accounts indicate that access restrictions again affected workers and commercial establishments in central Delhi.
The affected workers’ access to Khan Market, Nizamuddin and the India Gate area remained dependent on the security arrangements and permissions in force during the protest. The report did not specify when the barricades would be removed or whether a separate facilitation system would be established for workers with urgent workplace-related travel.
