With trains carrying migrant workers set to reach 40 stations across the state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath gave an assurance that his government will bring back every worker safely to their homes and leave no stone unturned to provide facilities to them.
Yogi appealed to the migrant labourers to not head for their homes on foot, bicycles or two-wheelers for the sake of their health and safety.
“Arrangements are being made for your safe return. Be patient, the government will reach you soon,” he said.
Addressing media persons in Lucknow on Friday, Additional Chief Secretary Awanish Awasthi said that the state government had identified 40 railways stations where special trains would reach.
“Already, arrangements have been made for 169 trains to evacuate migrant workers and their families from other states,” he said.
The additional chief secretary added that till date, 69 special trains had arrived at 40 stations in the state and 24 trains carrying around 30,000 workers were expected soon.
“We are expecting 76 special trains in the next two days. Besides, 30,000 agricultural labourers would be brought from Haryana by buses,” he said.
Awasthi also told media persons that the first batch of foreign migrant workers from Sharjah would reach Lucknow airport on Saturday night and 20 odd persons from Noida and Ghaziabad, working in foreign countries, would be reaching Delhi on Friday evening .
He said that health check-up of every migrant was being done at quarantine centres of respective districts.
“Healthy people are being sent to their homes with the instruction to comply with home quarantine norms. Suspects are being isolated at shelter homes for complete check-up. Besides, workers returning home are being given Rs 1,000 for sustenance and food grains in fixed quantity,” he said.
Meanwhile, officials have been directed to ask owners of industrial units to ensure that workers are given salaries or honoraria even during lockdown. About 55,000 units have paid Rs 633.44 crore as wages to the workers till now.
The additional chief secretary said that DG, Fire Services, had been asked to deploy all fire-tenders for sanitising mandis, markets, hotspots and other places on a war footing.
Awasthi said that the chief minister had directed officials to increase the number of beds in Covid hospitals and isolation centres across the state from 48,000 to 52,000.
“Besides, ventilators have also been added in district hospitals and 20 districts which did not have any ventilator will be provided five units each,” he said.
The additional chief secretary said that 20,000 surveillance teams were working in 452 hotspot areas of the state, keeping a tab on 47 lakh population residing in 8.42 lakh houses.
He also said that 2,670 members of Tablighi Jamaat or their contacts were quarantined at different places and 325 foreign Jamaatis too were in quarantine.