As the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a notice allowing the movement of stranded people to their homes, the Maharashtra government will ask the concerned states to bear the cost of transporting their migrants back home.
A senior government official informed that a final decision on this will be taken on April 30. There are around 12 to 13 lakh migrant workers and labourers in Maharashtra.
Of these 12 to 13 migrants, 10 lakh may be interested in going back to their respective states and many of them may not come back, the official informed.
“The prime concern is who will be subjected to pay the cost of transporting the migrants back to their home states. The sheer numbers indicate that it will turn out to be a burden on the state exchequer,” the official was quoted by TOI.
The government official further informed that they are examining the Punjab model. After the lockdown, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh made arrangements for the transportation of stranded pilgrims from his state in Nanded.
“With our students, we have sent buses from the state for their transportation. In our opinion, we should follow the same formula and let the respective states take responsibility for the transportation of their migrants stranded in Maharashtra,” the official said.
Following the lockdown, the migrants from states including Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have been stranded across the state and in different cities.
In a huge relief to the stranded migrants due to the coronavirus lockdown, the Union Home Ministry on Wednesday allowed the movement of migrant workers, labourers and others who are stuck in cities, wanting to go home. This order came after 36 days of the nationwide lockdown which will end on May 3.
“All persons to be medically screened at source and destination. They will be kept in home or institutional quarantine on arrival as per the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,” the MHO spokesperson informed.
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