Activist Medha Patkar on Tuesday extended her fast by 48 hours, while seeking immediate solution to the problems faced by migrant workers due to the COVID-19 lockdown in Madhya Pradesh.
In a letter to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the activist, who has been fasting since Monday morning, also opposed the state's decision to open liquor shops at a time when economic activities had been suspended and people were rendered jobless.
Patkar, who started her fast at Segwal on Agra- Mumbai National Highway in Barwani district on Monday morning, extended it for 48 hours, citing that the state government had not taken any action to help migrant labourers.
The Narmada Bachao Andolan leader alleged that district officers had claimed that they did not have funds available with them.
"We are concerned about funds that were collected in the name of PM-CARES and Disaster Management. Where was the financial crunch when industrialists were given exemptions worth Rs 68,000 crore?" she alleged.
It was the Centre and the state government's constitutional responsibility to let workers live a dignified life and not push them to the brink of death, Patkar stated in the letter to the Chief Minister.
The activist demanded that the state government should make immediate arrangements to transport migrant workers, who were trying to get back to their home states.
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