Lockdown woes: Over one crore migrant labourers returned to home states on foot

The Centre on Tuesday said that more than one crore migrant labourers returned to their home states on foot during March-June 2020, including those who travelled during the Covid-19 pandemic-induced lockdown.

As per the data compiled by Ministry of Labour and Employment, more than 1.6 crore migrant workers, including those who travelled on foot during the lockdown, returned to their home states, Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways V K Singh said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

As per provisional available information, 81,385 accidents occurred on the roads (including national highways) during the period March-June 2020 with 29,415 fatalities, he informed the Parliament, during the ongoing Monsoon Session.

He also said that the Road Transport Ministry does not maintain a separate data in respect of migrant workers who have died in road accidents during the coronavirus lockdown.

He said that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had issued regular advisories to state/union territories to take all necessary measures to provide shelters, food, water, health facilities and also proper counselling to migrant workers.

The Road Transport Ministry also assisted the movement of migrant labourers walking on the various national highways across the country by providing them food, drinking water, basic medicines and footwears, etc," the minister said.

They were also provided with the resting places and assistance in terms of the arrangement of transport with the help of local administration to take them to the places nearest to their destinations, he said.