Sixteen migrant workers walking home to Madhya Pradesh in the lockdown last May were crushed to death by a train after they fell asleep on the tracks. Ten months later, their families are struggling to get their death certificates.

Family members said they had approached the then sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Jaisingh Nagar, but were told these would be issued in Aurangabad in Maharashtra where the men were run over.

SDM Dileep Pandey said: “We recently wrote two letters to the Aurangabad administration.” There is no explanation why it should take so long.

Sunita Singh, Chandrawati, and Parvati Singh lost their husbands. Gajraj Singh lost his two sons. Without the certificates, they can’t access the bank accounts of the dead, or even receive social welfare benefits such as widow pension.