After the extension of the country wide lockdown by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi till May 3, the Uttarakhand unit of Congress party has intensified pressure on the State Government to make arrangement for return of Uttarakhandis stranded in other States.
Thousands of residents of the Uttarakhand working in other states are stranded and their hopes of return to homes got shattered when the Government extended the lockdown to control the spread of novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) Pritam Singh said that the State Government should make arrangements for return of these people of the State. “I appeal to the Chief Minister of State to show same empathy in ensuring return of people of state stranded in other areas and sending back the people of other states stuck here as shown in sending the stranded Gujarati’s back,’’ he said.
The Vice President of Uttarakhand Congress, Jot Singh Bisht said that the system which the State Government has set in place for return of Uttarakhandis stranded elsewhere has proved to be failure. “The officials concerned are either not picking up phones or are giving false assurances to the callers. The State
Government should prepare a plan for return of these stranded people of the State in a phased manner,’’ he said.
Bisht added that many of the stranded don’t have money to pay the rents of the houses they are living and are facing crisis of food also.
In a letter written to chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Congress leader Manish Khanduri said that most of the youth of the State work in industrial areas or hotels and due to prevailing lockdown they have become unemployed.
He said that these people were somehow managing till April 14 but the extension of lockdown has brought them in a crisis.
Khanduri said that the State Government should make arrangement for return of these people.