Maharashtra to lure migrants back by the month of July

The state government expects 13 lakh migrants, who left Maharashtra to return to their hometown during the extended lockdown period to come back in the month of July.

The government opines that the migrant labourers are bound to come back as the state is offering the workers a chance of a better livelihood. Parrag Jaiin Nainutia, Principal Secretary, further added that most of them are in fact on their way back, especially Mumbai, Thane and Palghar are witnessing an increasing number of migrants every day who had left for their hometowns earlier. As per sources, on June 4, 7,000 migrants have returned, whereas, on June 14, more than 10,000 migrants have returned. Furthermore, most of the migrants who had returned home, come from smaller districts where there are practically no opportunities for daily jobs. Therefore, the possibility of them returning back to Maharashtra remains high.

In the past, roughly 10 lakh migrants working in Mumbai had applied to leave for their hometowns. About 6.5 lakh had left on trains so far while 1.5 lakh had used other modes of transport. The top five states and Union Territories from where maximum trains have originated are Gujarat (979), Maharashtra (695), Punjab (397), Uttar Pradesh (263) and Bihar (263). These Shramik Special Trains were terminated in various states across the country. The top five states where maximum trains have terminated their journey are Uttar Pradesh (1520), Bihar (1296), Jharkhand (167), Madhya Pradesh (121), Odisha (139).

The district collector had earlier informed the Bombay High Court that over 50,000 stranded migrants had been sent back to their home states from Nagpur earlier this month in the midst of the extended lockdown. The Nagpur district collector and city police commissioner were responding to a suo moto petition taken up by the high court in order to highlight the hardships faced by migrants as a consequence of the lockdown. The collector, in his affidavit, had stated that people, who were found walking on highways in order to reach their home states, were intercepted by the police and put in buses arranged by the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) for them to go back home effectively.