Bihar reaches out to 1.45M stranded migrant workers

patna — The Bihar government has reached out to at least 1.45 million migrants stranded in Delhi, Mumbai and other parts of the country, amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown, and provided them meals, dry ration and other essential items, officials here said.

The state government has also been doling out a special assistance of Rs1,000 to distressed migrant workers after verification through the Direct Benefit Transfer system.

Two days after a large number of labourers, many of them from the state, had gathered at the Bandra station in Mumbai, heeding rumours that arrangements were being made to send them home, the Bihar government took up the matter with Maharashtra, while also making efforts to establish contact with the anguished workers, Bihar Minister Sanjay Jha said on Thursday.

“The Bihar chief secretary spoke to his Maharashtra counterpart on the same day and sought help for the stranded migrants there,” he said.

Principal Secretary, Bihar State Disaster Management Department, Pratyaya Amrit, said a total of 1.45 million migrants have been provided relief so far in camps set up for the purpose in Delhi and Mumbai, and states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal. The state government is supplementing the efforts of the local administration at these places, Amrit said.

Applications for special assistance have poured in from at least eight states, including Haryana,

The Bihar chief secretary spoke to his Maharashtra counterpart on the same day and sought help for the stranded migrants there Sanjay Jha Bihar minister

Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and Delhi.

As part of the special assistance programme, launched by the government on April 6, about Rs800,000 has been debited directly in the bank accounts of the beneficiaries, he said.

“In accordance with the instructions of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, we are trying to reach out to every single person who is contacting us over helpline numbers at the CM’s office, the disaster management department or the Bihar Resident Commissioner office in Delhi,” Amrit said.

Heart-wrenching images of jobless labourers and marginal workers walking back home, after suspension of transport services, were splashed on all TV channels and social media platforms, following the imposition of the nationwide lockdown in March end. Some of them were grounded midway by the administration in other states.

The chief minister had appealed to them to stay put wherever they were and promised that his government would provide necessary assistance to them.

The April 14 incident in Mumbai further laid bare the woes of the migrants, many of whom have lost daily wage jobs.

Amrit, whose department is coordinating relief operations, said 14 camps are functioning in Mumbai itself. He also said that the government-funded relief operations in far-off places, including Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Sikkim, are being carried out with the help of the Bihar Foundation’s chapters and their affiliated organisations. The Bihar Foundation — a forum for the state’s diaspora — has Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who also head the JD(U), as its patron and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi as its chairman.

Jha, a close associate of Kumar, said the government has taken stock of the situation in the relief camps of Mumbai and elsewhere, after Tuesday’s unfortunate incident in Mumbai. At several places the workers are not receiving help from local authorities, he stated.

“We, at the party level, along with officials and their personal contacts, are trying to redress their problems,” the state water resources minister said.—