UP and MP will bring distressed migrant workers home
The governments of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh announced on Friday they were working on a plan to bring migrant workers, left to fend for themselves in other states, home. Chhattisgarh is also mulling a similar idea. After the lockdown was announced on March 24, jobless migrant workers were the worst-hit. They started walking home, covering hundreds of kilometers on foot.
Adityanath asked officials to get to work
On Friday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced that he has ordered officials to prepare a list of migrant workers, arrange transportation for them, and then send them to their respective homes. This has to be done on war-footing, the BJP leader said. The migrant workers who have completed a 14-day quarantine will be brought back in a phased manner.
The number could be in lakhs
UP Chief Secretary RK Tiwari said there is no estimated number of migrants and it could go to lakhs. "That is why a plan has to be prepared to bring back such people in a phased manner. Ultimately, these people have to reach their destination," he told IE. UP Additional Chief Secretary Awanish Awasthi said a list is being readied.
Government will set up shelter homes for migrant workers
An official statement from the government said workers will be brought to borders of states where they are residing and from there, they will be sent to their home districts. At the districts, they will be quarantined for 14 days in shelter homes. The plan is to set up community kitchens in these homes. They will be asked to remain indoors for another 14 days.
UP conducted similar exercises in the past
It has also been decided to send senior administrative officers, a police officer, and a senior health officer to 18 high-risk zones. The officials will understand the implementation of lockdown and report to Adityanath daily. Earlier, UP arranged 1,000 buses to bring migrant workers stuck in Noida and Ghaziabad. 300 buses were sent from Agra and Jhansi, to bring students from Kota too.
Chouhan spoke to other CMs to help migrant workers
Separately, Adityanath's MP counterpart, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, announced he spoke to CMs of UP, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra, to facilitate the process of bringing workers home. The government will follow social distancing and other guidelines issued by the government, They will be screened and quarantined in MP. Workers living in other districts can travel within the state and return home, the government added.
Chouhan will also help migrant workers stuck in MP
Significantly, the state government allowed residents to travel to other states to bring their relatives home. Migrant workers, who are stuck in MP, were also allowed to return to their homes. They can either arrange for their own transportation or avail those provided by Chouhan's government. Congress said Chouhan acted very late and should have taken steps when migrant workers were in distress.
Chhattisgarh is also following the route
About the workers, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel said, "We have also requested permission to bring back our migrant workers stranded across the country. Once the permission is granted, we will bring them back."
