Hundreds of migrant workers in Kerala staged a protest by blocking the road at Payippad in Alappuzha district on Sunday demanding arrangements for returning to native places. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that the protest was instigated by a vested interest group and ordered a probe.
It was by around 11 a.m. hundreds of migrant workers gathered at Payippad, about 35 kilometers from Alappuzha town, and demanded that wanted to return to their native places as there was no work now. District administration and senior police officials took several hours to convince the workers that they could not travel to their native places owing to the lockdown imposed by the centre. By around 2 p.m. they returned to the camps set up by the government.
The Chief Minister said that the Kerala government was taking good care of the migrant workers by setting up 5,000 camps where 1.5 lakh migrants were house and free food was being provided.
Published 29 March 2020, 14:37 IST