As the reports of migrant labourers facing tragic ends continue to rise, Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday said the Maharashtra government should give permission to private vehicles for ferrying migrant labourers to their native places during the lockdown. Raising concern over migrant workers setting off for their hometowns on foot, Raut said they were falling sick and some have also died.
मजदूर वर्ग पैदल निकल रहा है यह तस्वीर अच्छी नहीं है। छोटे बच्चे उनके साथ हैं। रेलवे उनके लिए गाड़ियां छोड़ने को तैयार नहीं। राज्य सरकार को निजी वाहनों को अनुमति देना जरूरी है। लोग पैदल चलते चलते बीमार पड़ रहे हैं। मर रहे हैं। उनका चलना फिर भी रुका नहीं है।
— Sanjay Raut (@rautsanjay61) May 10, 2020
“The labour class is walking back home, this is not a good picture. Their children are with them. Railways is not ready to operate trains for them. The state government should give permission to private vehicles to ply,” Raut tweeted.
“People are falling ill while walking. Some have died. Even then their walking hasn’t stopped, the Rajya Sabha member further said.
Sixteen migrant workers who were going to their respective homes in Madhya Pradesh on foot, sleeping on rail tracks were crushed to death by a goods train in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra in the early hours of Friday. The labourers’ dead bodies were later sent to their homes in a train.
The labourers, rendered jobless due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown, had set off for their homes on foot along the rail tracks apparently to escape police attention. On March 28, four migrant labourers were crushed to death when a speeding tempo ran over them on Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway in Maharashtra’s Palghar district.
Last week, the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet decided to suspend 35 of the 38 labour laws in the state for three years. It said that this would attract much-needed investment to an economy battered by Covid-19. The move has been criticised for being harsh on the poor at a time when they are already suffering from the pandemic induced lockdown.