Maharashtra Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat on Saturday expressed concern over the majority of states not willing to take back their migrant workers and labourers stranded in the state due to the lockdown.
In a statement, Maharashtra Congress President Balasaheb Thorat sought directions to be issued by the centre as the majority of the states are not accepting their migrants back. The random decision made by several states regarding receiving their migrants has worsened the situation.
“The Maharashtra government was making every possible effort to send the migrant workers and labourers stranded in the state. However, many states are not willing to take them back. The centre should issue guidelines so that the situation doesn’t worsen and the individual states refrain from making random decisions,” Maharashtra Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat said.
The minister further informed that there are nearly 10 lakh migrant workers and labourers in Maharashtra who want to return to their native homes amid the coronavirus outbreak. These migrants are mostly from states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha and Tamil Nadu.
Earlier, Odisha and Bihar had given blanket approval to the Maharashtra government to accept their migrants back. However, both the states have reversed their policies regarding the same. The Nitish Kumar government changed its stance of taking its migrants back and said that it will now decide on a case-to-case basis.
Odisha wants to take back its migrants, who have been tested negative for the COVID-19 while the preconditions or process laid out by the Tamil Nadu government to take back its people was time-consuming and complicated, Balasaheb Thorat said.
“The Uttar Pradesh government had earlier refused to take back its migrants. However, they have revised their decision and we have started sending them back,” the senior Congress leader said while hitting out at the Gujarat and Karnataka government for refusing to take back their citizens stuck in Maharashtra.
Earlier, the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) bore the cost of travel of nearly 4,627 migrant workers and labourers returning to their home states from all across the state. Moreover, the first train from Mumbai carrying 1,140 migrants to UP was started on Friday.
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