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Now, aid cushions migrant workers’ long walk home
Life became a little easier for the migrant workers who are taking the long walk home due to the Covid-19 lockdown
Life became a little easier for the migrant workers who are taking the long walk home due to the Covid-19 lockdown as they began getting food and water in every district they passed through from Thursday afternoon onwards.In Bulandshahr and Jhansi, they also got transport.
The help started coming in on a day on which chief minister Yogi Adityanath asked the district magistrates of the border districts to make special arrangements, including travel, food and water, for workers walking home.
He also spoke to Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, assuring them that the migrant workers from their states would be looked after.
After successive meetings in the state, the picture began changing for the better.
For instance, the district administration and the police in Bulandshahr rushed to the help of the migrant workers after coming to know that about a thousand of them were walking to their homes in Bulandshahr and the neighbouring districts from Delhi. The administration provided food, water, and then arranged buses to pack them off to their respective districts.
“They had walked long districts from Delhi and Noida, and were hungry and thirsty. We arranged food packets and water for them. Then with the help of the district administration, (we) sent them to their home districts,” said Bulandshahr superintendent of police (SP) Santosh Singh.
Similarly, distress was eased at the Jhansi railway station where over 300 migrant workers were stranded. The district administration there made identical arrangements for them as in Bulandshahr after subjecting them to thermal scanning.
However, interstate migrant workers are still walking on the highways from Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and so are the intra-state migrant workers. But, the key difference is that they are getting food and water.
“While on our way to Barabanki from Kanpur, we got food at three places in Kanpur, Unnao, and Lucknow. The police were ready with food and water on the roadsides for people like us. They also gave us (200 ml) water bottles with food. Walking on a full stomach is not much of a problem,” said Dinesh Kumar, 24. He, along with four friends, was walking near the polytechnic crossing in Lucknow. All of them are employees at two different restaurants in Kanpur.
Besides the government, voluntary organisations, and political parties have started distributing food packets, mostly having puri-subzi and a bottle of water.
The Samajwadi Party and Congress party workers also prepared food and distributed packets and water bottles to migrant workers.
WHATSAPP NUMBER FOR THOSE STUCK ON HIGHWAYS
The UP 112 state police emergency response centre has decided to help people who are walking hundreds of kilometres on their way home.
Additional director general (ADG), UP 112, on Friday issued a WhatsApp number 7570000100 as helpline for those stuck on highways. He said people could send their details on WhatsApp to seek help from UP 112.
“People should share the details in this particular format—name, contact number, present location, from where they are coming from and their destination point,” he stated.
(Readers may report migrant workers transit issues on the chief minister’s telephone helpline 1076 and/or tweet it on @CMHelpline1076 )
