Coronavirus lockdown: 1,000 migrant labourers hit streets in Maharashtra, demand to return home

Around 1,000 migrant labourers, mostly from northern parts of India, came on to the streets in Maharashtra's Chandrapur on Saturday to demand that arrangements be made for their return to the native places, police said.

The incident took place around 9.30 am at Ballarpur in the district, an official said.

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"More than 1,000 labourers, mostly staying at a construction site in a government medical college, hit the streets and demanded that arrangement be made for their movement to their home states. They tried to block the highway and started walking towards the railway station," he said.

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"The labourers want to go back to their hometowns in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Some of them are from West Bengal. They said they have been facing hardships due to the lockdown as their source of income has stopped," the official said.

On being alerted, personnel from the Ramnagar Police Station rushed to the spot and the situation was brought under control.

"The police staff told the labourers that proper procedure has to be followed if they want to return to their home states as special trains are being arranged. They were asked to fill the application forms to get a place in the special trains," he said.

The police provided food to them, he said that the labourers later returned to local residence.