New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanth has received phone calls from 4 of his counterparts including Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Karnataka over the exodus of migrant labourers from their states, a leading daily reported.
All four CMs are learnt to have given assurance to the UP CM that migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh will be attended to during the lockdown and they need not leave the respective state, reported the Hindu.
Why migrant workers are a big asset
Governments in these states are concerned over the exit of migrant workers from UP to their home state. As the migrants from states like UP, Bihar & Madhya Pradesh constitute a large share of workforce in big cities, their departure would mean further decline in the economic activity.
Chief Ministers are ‘worried’ over the fact that after lockdown ends, the economic activity in their states will get hampered due to lack of labour.
Yesterday, Karnataka govt cancelled all Shrami special trains for migrants, sparking huge controversy with Opposition alleging that they are being treated like bonded labour at the behest of powerful real estate lobby.
Karnataka and Haryana CMs have already appealed to migrants to rethink plans of going to native place. ML Khattar has also urged them to not leave the state and start working in the manufacturing units that have begun.
Yogi’s resolve to bring back stranded workers
UP CM Yogi Adityanath was one of the first chief ministers to have spoken about bringing back the stranded labourers in other states.
The state administration is actively monitoring and ensuring return of UP migrants. In March alone, over 4.5 lakh had returned from other states and now the Yogi govt has increased the capacity of quarantine centres to house 12 lakh people.
Last week, the UP CM also directed officials to firm up a plan to provide employment to nearly 20 lakh people in the state after studying the Centre’s advisory on lockdown and the permitted economic activities amid it.
