As UP Brings Home Thousands Of Migrant Workers Stuck In Other States, CM Yogi Urges Them To Not Travel On Foot

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has urged migrant labourers, who hail from Uttar Pradesh and are currently stranded in different states, to not travel on foot during the lockdown.

He has also appealed to the migrant workers to stay in the state where they are currently stranded in the wake of the lockdown. He has advised the migrant workers to remain in touch with the government establishment in those states.

Adityanath has said that migrant workers must continue to show the patience and restraint they have displayed so far on the matter.

Many migrant workers from different states have chosen to travel on foot towards their states or home towns during the lockdown. This has raised concerns about their safety and wellbeing.

In a first among states, UP will bring home its migrant labourers who are currently stranded in other states. Reports say that the returnees will be quarantined for 14 days in government shelter homes.

This Hindustan Times report says that “Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday asked each district to set up shelters and quarantine centres to house 15,000 to 25,000 people”.

The process is already underway. This India Today report states that 2,224 migrant workers have been brought to Shamli district in 82 buses from Haryana. Around 12,200 migrant workers from Haryana returned home in total.

“In the last two days, UPSRTC ferried a total of 12,200 UP migrant labourers from Haryana on 328 buses,” said additional chief secretary (home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi.

The mammoth exercise, under which about a million migrant workers may be brought back to the state, is likely to take at least two weeks.

On Wednesday (29 April), the Union home ministry issued fresh guidelines for interstate movement, in order to allow migrant labourers, tourists and students to return home. The guidelines will come to effect on 4 May.

The same day, Adityanath delivered a strong message on the safety of frontline workers fighting Covid-19 in the state. He said that at a time when the state machinery powered by the frontline workers such as people in the medical teams, the team of sanitisers, teams dedicated to doorstep delivery, is fighting to break the chain, there are people working as "Corona carriers".

He listed stringent measures against people who are harming frontline workers and hindering their work.

Adityanath has asked officials to prepare a state-wise list of people stranded outside UP for their return in phases.