E-Paper
In 10-15 days, we’ll send all migrant labourers back to home states: Gujarat CM
Gujarat CM says the Shramik Trains’ capacity is 1,200 passengers per journey and he believes it will take 10-15 days for all the labourers to be able to go back to their respective states.
Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani spoke to Smriti Kak Ramachandran about Ahmedabad emerging as a Covid-19 hot spot, the concerns of migrant workers, and getting the state economy back on track. Edited excerpts:
Gujarat continues to see a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases. There are over 5,000 cases and 300 deaths, making the state one of the worst hit. Was there a slip up in arresting the spread of the virus?
The state was under lockdown even before the nationwide lockdown was announced. There was a complete ban on movement of people. However, Gujarat is one of the leading states in India with a large number of international and domestic travellers. This increases the possibility of more cases. By the time we registered our first case on March 19, we’d screened around 30,000 passengers and put them under quarantine. After the nationwide lockdown, we ensured strict implementation of MHA guidelines.
Meanwhile, a large number of people who attended the Tablighi Jamat Markaz, came here, and by the time we could track them, they had already come in contact with their friends, family and other people. This led to the rise of cases. Many hid their travel history. Had they co-operated with us, Ahmedabad would not have become a Covid-19 hot spot.
Another reason for rise in cases is our intensive testing capacity. With a capacity of 3,000 per day, we have tested around 80,000 people till date.
The government has not been able to reach out to allay the fears of migrant workers. There have been several instances of migrant workers rushing out on the streets; of stone-pelting and tear gas.
Gujarat has developed a number of regional economic centres, with Ahmedabad and Surat being the biggest. These cities host lakhs of labourers. We acknowledge their contribution in the development and prosperity of our economy. And we are empathetic towards their concerns. The lockdown has been a challenging time for all of us, and especially for them.
We ensured arrangements of proper food and shelter. We provided free foodgrain to migrant workers, including to those without ration cards. More than 10 lakh food packets are being distributed on a daily basis to the needy and there are shelter homes for the homeless.
However, there was another challenge of no work. The workers in Surat demanded to go back. The guidelines of the lockdown did not allow us to make travel arrangements for them in April. But, we did allow industrial units outside the containment zones to resume work, under certain conditions, followed by permitting export-oriented units outside containment zones. This led to opening up of more than 40,000 industrial units and businesses and around seven lakh labourers could resume work.
There are still thousands who want to go back to their homes and their families. First, we plied state transport buses to ferry people to nearby states. Now, the Indian Railways has started ‘Shramik Trains’, and we are allowing people to travel to their respective home states. The train’s capacity is 1,200 passengers per journey; I believe it will take 10-15 days for all the labourers to be able to go back to their respective states.
Since there is large-scale movement of labourers from Gujarat, are you worried that the state may face a shortage of manpower?
Based on central guidelines, we decided to resume industrial operations from April 20 in areas outside containment zones and municipal limits. I do not think we will face a shortage of manpower in any of the sectors. I am confident that more and more units will be permitted by my administration to resume operations in the days to come, and more labourers will resume their jobs.
What are the immediate steps being taken to revive economy?
We decided to restart all those industrial units and businesses falling outside the limits of municipalities and municipal corporations and containment zones. We also provided the freedom to labourers to work for a 12-hour shift with additional remuneration for extra hours.
