Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Wednesday cited a silver lining in the country’s efforts to battle the unprecedented crisis presented by the coronavirus outbreak while acknowledging that the decision on lifting of the nationwide lockdown after its completion on April 14 was not an easy decision to make.
Soren lauded the “strength of federalism” displayed by the cooperation among different states especially in dealing with the migrant crisis engendered by the announcement of 21-day national lockdown.
Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers were left without work or money after businesses in the unorganised sector, including construction, were ordered to shut shop temporarily in line with the lockdown provisions that came into effect on March 25.
Several of these migrants started a long march home on foot and had to be accommodated into temporary relief camps set up by different states to provide them food, shelter, sanitation and medical care.
The chief ministers of different states coordinated on the issue of migrants to ensure they were not left unattended. Soren referred to this while talking about the “strength of federalism”.
“Strength of federalism has come to the fore in fight against Covid-19 pandemic,” PTI quoted Soren as saying. He added that chief ministers were “coordinating with each other” to help out people stranded outside their home state.
{{/usCountry}}“Strength of federalism has come to the fore in fight against Covid-19 pandemic,” PTI quoted Soren as saying. He added that chief ministers were “coordinating with each other” to help out people stranded outside their home state.
{{/usCountry}}Jharkhand, one of the last Indian states to report a positive case of coronavirus infection, is home to several of these migrants who were left stranded in different states including Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, Karnataka and Telangana.
Most states set up facilities to ensure that none of the workers went hungry and they also offered cash relief to the daily wagers registered in their respective states. The Central government, too, announced several measures including cash transfers to additional free ration under the food security scheme to safeguard the poor from loss of income during the current crisis.
Soren’s endorsement of cooperative federalism comes at a time when the Centre and the states have held several rounds of consultations and mostly worked in tandem to enforcement measures to contain the outbreak of the pandemic.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, lauded the work done by states while states that they were working in close coordination with the Centre.
PM Modi is set to have another meeting with chief ministers of states on Saturday, March 11, when a decision on the extension of lockdown could be taken.