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Gujarat forms panel to expedite migrants’ return from Surat, slashes fuel surcharge by 0.16 paise
The Gujarat government has requested the migrant workers to show patience while state organises the modalities of their return to their homes.
A day after thousands of migrant workers took to the streets of Surat demanding that they are allowed to go home, Gujarat government on Tuesday formed a committee to ensure the overall management and coordination for sending back migrant workers from the city to their homes.
Gujarat police on Monday had arrested 204 migrant workers who allegedly stoned policemen demanding that they were allowed to go home. The workers, mainly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, were charged with rioting and attempt to murder after the fourth incident of violence in Surat in the past 23 days.
Secretary to chief minister, Aswani Kumar, said the committee will be headed by the minister of state for health Kishor Kanani, MM Patel, commissioner of municipalities’ administration and three other officers. “The committee will coordinate with regional administrations in Botad, Bhavnagar, Amreli, etc and ensure the safe return of migrant workers from Surat,” Kumar said.
He said the state government, had successfully ensured the safe return of 3.25 lakh migrant workers to their homes. These include 42 thousand migrant workers from other states, while the remaining were migrant workers from within the state.
Kumar said, “The state government, in coordination with the central government, has successfully sent 42 thousand migrant workers in 35 labourers’ trains to various states like U.P, Bihar, Odisha, etc. In addition, the state government also provided permission to labourers residing in Surat to return to their native districts. This includes 5,500 workers travelling in-state buses, 1.67 lakh workers in private transport and 1.14 lakh workers through their own vehicles /other private means by the permission of Surat Municipal Corporation. This takes the tally to 3.25 lakh migrant workers.”
Around 28,000 migrant workers have been sent to their respective home states through 23 trains in the last three days. These include eight trains from Surat to Odisha and one each to Bihar and Jharkhand. Two trains from Vadodara took the migrants to U.P, three trains from Ahmedabad carried the workers to Bihar, and four trains from Ahmedabad went to UP. Apart from these, one train each from Godhra, Nadiad, Palanpur and Rajkot was sent to UP with the migrant workforce.
Director General of Police (DGP) Shivanand Jha said the migrant workers from various cities must be patient and cooperative as they are in large numbers. “If people take the law into their hands, strict actions will be taken against them,” said Jha.
Talking about an incident that took place in Surat, the DGP said that 204 people have been arrested under various sections including damage to Public Property Act, Rioting, 304, 120(B).
Meanwhile, the Gujarat Government on Tuesday decided to reduce the fuel surcharge on electricity by Rs. 0.16 paisa per unit, to provide some relief to the industry. As a result of this decision, more than 1.30 crore electricity customers will collectively save approximately Rs. 310-crore, officials said.
Gujarat energy minister Saurabh Patel said that the previous fuel surcharge for the period of January to March 2020 was Rs. 2.06 per unit. It has now been reduced to Rs. 1.90 per unit for the period of April to June 2020. “The fuel surcharge has been reduced to pass on the benefit of the Central government’s decision to reduce the price of gas,” the energy minister said.
The Gujarat government has also received Centre’s permission to conduct the Solidarity Trial for the Covid-19 virus, state government officials said. “The Solidarity Trial will compare four treatment options against the standard of care, to assess their relative effectiveness against Covid-19,” the World Health Organization states.
“The Centre has given the permission to conduct the Solidarity Trial for the ‘Covid-19’ virus at BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad,” said Jyanti Ravi, principal secretary (health), adding that the permissions to conduct similar trials at four other colleges are the under process.
After receiving permission from the Government of India, the registration process for conducting the trials on ‘Covid-19’ patients has begun at the BJ Medical College.
“These four medicines are Remdesivir, Lopinavir, Interferon (beta 1 a) and hydroxychloroquine or Chloroquine. As a result of these experiments, an effective and proper medicine for the treatment of Covid-19 will be found quickly. Not only this, but it will also enhance the probability of faster recovery of the infected patients,” Ravi added.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, 441 more coronavirus cases have been reported in the state. According to health bulletin of the state government, total infections in state have reached 6,245 and 368 people have died.
