Police barricades erected across central Delhi ahead of a planned protest stopped daily-wage labourers, gig workers and commuters from reaching workplaces, leaving several workers without a day’s earnings, The Hindu reported. The restrictions were imposed as tens of thousands of security personnel were deployed across the capital to prevent protesters from reaching Jantar Mantar.
The protest was called by youth groups demanding the suspension of the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Multiple layers of barricades were placed on roads leading towards central Delhi, with police allowing passage in several locations only to people carrying government identity cards or other proof of work.
At about 9.30 a.m., Ram Kishan Mandal, 36, was stopped while travelling to a construction site near India Gate. Mandal, who is from Katihar district in Bihar, said police told him that he did not have a permit to proceed. His employer asked him to walk to the site, but he said police personnel did not allow him through. Mandal also said that his house had been destroyed in recent floods in Bihar and that his family was living under a tarpaulin roof.
Another group of daily-wage workers was turned away at a barricade near Nizamuddin despite working at a construction site across a flyover, about 50 metres away, according to the report. Mukesh Chauhan, a 47-year-old electrician, was also stopped while travelling to work on his motorbike. He said he earned about ₹9,000 a month and would lose his daily wage as well as the ₹100 spent on petrol if he could not reach the worksite.
The restrictions also affected employees carrying workplace responsibilities. Devender Chauhan, who was travelling by scooter with his wife, said she worked at a café in central Delhi and was wearing her work uniform. He said he worked for an advertising company in Khan Market and had been asked to open the shop because he was carrying its key. After repeated requests, his wife was allowed to walk approximately 2 km to her workplace.
The blockade created difficulties for commuters who did not yet have formal identity cards. Akashna Mishra, 23, travelling from Mehrauli, was stopped at three locations—near Lajpat Nagar metro station, Bharat Mandapam and Minto Road. She told The Hindu that she had recently joined a new job and had not received her identity card. Police asked her to show a joining letter, but she said there was no internet connection at the location to send the document.
P.V. Aniyan, secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions in Delhi, said daily-wage and gig workers in central Delhi and surrounding areas were among those worst affected by the restrictions. He said their entire day’s earnings had been hit and that the impact on workers should be considered before imposing such blockades.
The episode highlights the immediate livelihood cost of security restrictions in a city where many workers depend on daily attendance and informal proof of employment. The police barricades were linked to the security arrangements for the protest, and the report did not specify when all road restrictions would be lifted.
