COVID-19: Migrant workers walking back to native place face hurdle at Delhi-UP border

Amid the ongoing Coronavirus lockdown, many migrants have decided to walk back to their home states. Some migrant workers who were heading back on foot to their native places in Uttar Pradesh hit a hurdle at Ghazipur near the Delhi-UP border late on Saturday night. According to the migrants, the police at the Delhi-UP border check post did not allow them to move ahead since they did not have movement passes.

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"We have come from Gurugram and we are going to Hardoi in UP. I don't know how we'll reach home as police is not allowing us to move forward," Pinky, one of the migrants said.

Another worker Ram Babu said, "I have been walking from Swaroop Nagar and we have been stopped by police here. My landlord verbally abused me and asked us for rent as it was pending for two months. We have no money to get ration, so we felt it was better to leave."

Another woman in the group said "They are asking us to go back. They are demanding a pass, what should we do?"

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Union Home Secretary writes to Chief Secretaries

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Friday, wrote to Chief Secretaries of all states and Union Territories (UTs), directing them to ensure that there is no movement of migrant workers on roads and railway tracks, and facilitate their movement through special buses or Shramik special trains.

The Chief Secretary in his letter further said that migrant workers should be appropriately counselled and taken to nearby shelters and provided with food and water till such time they are facilitated to board the special trains or buses to their native places.

"States/UTs should widely disseminate the arrangements for travel in special buses/Shramik' special trains amongst the migrant workers and persuade/counsel them that they should not be walking when they can travel in buses/trains," he said in the letter.

He further said it is the responsibility of all states and Union Territories to ensure that movement of stranded migrant workers who are willing to go to their home states is facilitated. Bhalla said that with the cooperation of states/UTs, the Railways Ministry is running more than 100 Shramik special trains per day and is ready to arrange additional trains as per their requirement.

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(With inputs from agency)