V-P Naidu underlines need for proper data on migrants

NEW DELHI: Concerned over the plight of migrant workers, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday underlined the need for “proper” data on migrant workers to help authorities impart them with required skills and provide employment opportunities as the country exits the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.

In a Facebook post on the coronavirus and ways to deal with it, he said that unfortunately, the poor, the daily wage earners, farmers, and small businesses have been severely affected by the events triggered by the pandemic.

The governments at the Centre and in the states have taken several measures to alleviate the suffering of the poor and the needy, especially migrant workers, he said.

“The recent events underline the need for having proper data on the migrants in the country. Creating such data will help the governments to impart skills and create employment opportunities to them in their respective places,” he said.

At the same, there is a need to create awareness among the migrants on the facilities available for their welfare and upliftment, he said, adding that over the past few weeks, lakhs of migrant workers have returned to their native states as the lockdown had rendered them jobless. Referring to the precautions, people are taking to prevent the spread of the killer virus, Naidu said, “What initially looked a bit bizarre and surreal has become the new normal.”

“But driven as we are by our primal instincts of survival, we have also adapted to this new normal and this transition now appears quite seamless,” he said.