'Ferried 1.2 crore migrants back to their homes; in touch with CMs since Day 1': Amit Shah

Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday revealed that approximately 1.2 crore migrant workers who were stranded across the country had been ferried back to their homes amid the lockdown. The Home Minister in an interview to news agency ANI stated that the Centre had been transparent with the states since the beginning of the announcement of the lockdown and had asked the Chief Ministers of the respective states to make necessary arrangements for the migrants that had stayed back. 

"The day the lockdown was announced, PM Modi ji and I, we spoke to the Chief Ministers of all the states asking them to arrange lodging and food facilities for migrants that have stayed back in the state since industries will close down. All states made arrangements. They needed funds, immediately PM Modi sent Rs 11,000 from the Ministry to be sent to all NDRFs in the states," said Amit Shah. 

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'Over 1.2 crore migrants ferried'

"PM then decided to start Shramik trains for the migrants. About 4594 odd trains have run to date, ferrying 63 lakh back to their homes in far-off states in the country. About 52 lakh have gone to their homes nearby via buses. Some saddening incidents happened when people lost patience and started travelling on foot, we were also pained by it. PM had told all the CMs to run buses to ferry migrants travelling on foot to nearest railway stations, till now, about 1 crore 20 lakh people have been ferried across the nation," said the Home Minister. 

Amit Shah added that states like UP, Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand which were home to a majority of the migrant population really stepped up amid the pandemic immediately setting up quarantine centres in their states. "From railway centres, they (migrants) are taken to quarantine centres. They are discharged after 14 days and sent back to their homes with an additional income of Rs1000-2000 to get settled down. For employment, we have launched schemes for migrants like we did yesterday in Uttar Pradesh," said the Home Minister. 

Aatmanirbhar Uttar Pradesh Rojgar Abhiyan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the 'Atma Nirbhar Uttar Pradesh Rojgar Abhiyan' through video conferencing. The programme is touted to be the largest employment generating scheme in the country aimed at providing employment to about 1.25 crore people in Uttar Pradesh. PM Modi after the virtual inauguration also spoke with the beneficiaries from six districts of the state, who shared their experience during the COVID and their plans about the future. Women beneficiaries too participated in the conversations with PM Modi. 

Read: Migrant Labourers Who Returned To Uttar Pradesh Amid Lockdown Find Work Under MNREGA

Read: PM Modi To Launch Employment Programme For UP's 1.25 Cr Residents On June 26