Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interaction with Chief Ministers of all States scheduled for April 27, the Maharashtra Government on Thursday mounted pressure on the Centre to run special trains from Mumbai and Pune to take back 6.5 lakh migrant workers staying at various labour camps, to their respective States after lockdown.
Two days after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray reiterated his demand for the Centre running special trains “to ensure that migrant labour from other States can return home”, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar upped the ante by urging Railway Minister Piyush Goytal to make necessary arrangements in advance to run special trains to accommodate “all such restless labourers” so that “there is no law & order problem at railway stations in Maharashtra”.
In his letter to Goyal, Pawar wrote: “As Maharashtra is a leading industrial State and having highest construction activities, a large number of informal labourers particularly migrated from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other northern States are working in these sectors”.
“Due Covid-19 lockdown, about 6.5 lakh migrants are staying in respective labour camps in Maharashtra and the State Government is providing daily food and health services to them. In addition to this, almost equal number of labourers are being provided with food by various NGOs and social organisations,” Pawar said,.
“All these informal labourers are now jobless and eagerly awaiting to go to their respective States. The incident of Bandra Railway station gathering, which happened in Mumbai, is an example of restlessness of such labourers.
The deputy chief minister said that after the lockdown is lifted on May 3 or any other date decided by the Centre, there would once again be a huge rush of these labourers at all railway stations.
In view of this, he urged Goyal to “make necessary arrangements in advance, including running special trains from Mumbai and Pune to all major destinations of the country to accommodate all such restless labourers, so that there will not be any no law and order problems at any railway station in Maharashtra”.
Pawar’s missive to Goyal came just 48 hours after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray flagged the issue of migrant labourers staying in Maharashtra.
On Tuesday night, the chief minister’s office (CMO) Maharashtra had tweeted: “CM Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray has reiterated his demand for special trains to ensure that migrant labour from other States can return home. He has demanded to the Hon’ble Prime Minister & the Railway Ministry that guidelines about this to be issued by April-end”
“Approximately 6 lakh migrant labours are being provided with food, shelter & medical assistance in relief camps setup across Maharashtra by the Government. However, in such times staying away from their homes & families is taking a toll on them,” the CMO tweeted.
“If the Central Government is anticipating a rise in the transmission of the virus between April 30 and May 15, then it must consider if it can utilise the time at hand to arrange for special trains to send them back home and issue guidelines about this by April-end,” the CMO added. It may be recalled that on April 18, the chief minister had assured the migrant labourers settled in the state that he was in touch with the Centre and he was confident that “in the next few days, some solution would be found for their problems”.
As part of the address to the people in the state through social media, Uddhav had said: “The migrants living in the state are in a mood to co-operate with the state government. They have quietened down now. I would like to tell them once again that we are holding talks with the Union government. I am confident that in the next few days, we will find a way out of the current situation”
“Please don’t worry at all. In Maharashtra, we are slowly starting the activities. If possible, I request you to come back to work. You can continue to earn living. The day the situation returns to normal, I assure that the Maharashtra government will ensure that you will return to your native places. What we want is that whenever you go, you go back happily to your home. Don’t go back in fear,” the Chief Minister told the migrant labourers.
The chief minister’s words to the migrants should be seen in the light of the unrest seen among the migrant workers across the state in recent weeks and the assembly of huge crowds witnessed in front of the Bandra railway station in north-west Mumbai on the evening April 14, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the extension of lockdown till May 3.