Bihar government starts relief centres for migrants in other states

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has directed the Bihar Foundation to start relief centres for natives trapped in different states amid the nationwide lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to a press release issued by the Bihar Chief Minister's Office, Nitish Kumar has directed the Bihar Foundation to organise disaster relief centres in different states of the country to provide help and assistance to people of Bihar who are trapped in various places due to the lockdown. The Bihar CM has also asked that the people should be provided food, shelter and medical aid, the cost of which will be covered by the CM relief fund.

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After the direction from the Chief Minister, the Bihar Foundation has reached out to 5,015 people in different parts of the country; out of which 1200 people are in Dharavi, 600 in Govandi relief centre in Mumbai, 500 in Navi Mumbai, 500 in Kalyan, 280 in Pune, 100 in Hyderabad, 100 in Chennai, 100 in Kolkata, 500 in Bengaluru and 300 people in Sikkim. The people in these camps have been provided with food, ration, mask, sanitizers and medical assistance.

Nitish Kumar decided to reach out to Bihar's migrant population after videos and pictures of migrant labourers from Bihar stranded at Anand Vihar Bus Terminal went viral. The Delhi and UP government, violating the lockdown pertaining to COVID-19, decided to drop all the migrant labourers on the borders of Bihar, after which Nitish Kumar was left with no option but to reach out the Bihari labourers in distress and arranged for vehicles to drop them to their native places.

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(Image - PTI)