Amid lockdown, TN govt sets up two committees to take care of migrant population

About 2,206 people, including homeless and the migrant labourers, are housed at community halls in Chennai city alone.
Amid lockdown, TN govt sets up two committees to take care of migrant population
Amid lockdown, TN govt sets up two committees to take care of migrant population
Written by:

The nationwide lockdown has been hard on the migrant workers across the country,  exposing a major flaw in the containment measures adopted by the government. Pictures of hundreds of migrant workers walking with their belongings on deserted highways brought into focus the plight of the working class who moved from their home towns to work in different parts of the country.

On Sunday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy announced that two additional committees comprising of senior IAS officers will be created in the state to look into the welfare of migrant workers, students from other states and to look after the needs of the elderly, the orphaned and people living with disabilities, and to monitor the availability of essential goods. The state already has nine special committees monitoring different departments.

On March 28, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Dep wrote to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Palaniswami requesting that the state provide food, accommodation, security and healthcare to all those from Tripura currently stranded in Tamil Nadu. Tripura has set up control rooms to all monitor the status of all its people stranded in different parts of the country.

A day before, on March 28, Tej Pratap Yadav, former Health Minister of Bihar, shared a list of 50 labourers from Bihar currently stranded in Tirupur in Tamil Nadu. “They are short of food & money. Pls help them immediately,” he tweeted, tagging the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, after which the latter assured help will be extended.

TN CM Edappadi K Palaniswami also announced that the employers of the migrant workers should take care of their stay, food, security and healthcare. Should they require more assistance, District Collectors have been directed to do the needful. Central kitchens are working to provide food to those migrant workers boarded in community halls.

Centralised kitchens have been set up at every zone in the city. About 2,002 migrant labourers are hosted at community halls that fall within limits of Chennai corporation. An official from Greater Chennai Corporation says, “2,206 people including homeless and the migrant labourers are housed at community halls in the city. They are being fed and taken care of comfortably,” he says.

Earlier last week, GCC shared that 17 health camps have been set up in the city to screen and test migrant labourers.

Greater Chennai Corporation shared that about 97 passengers from Jharkhand and West Bengal who were stranded in Chennai were being boarded at Manali Community Centre.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Palaniswami tweeted to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that about 500 Tamil labourers are stuck at Pandharpur in Maharashtra and that they needed care. The tweet received a positive response from Maharashtra Chief Minister.  

Related Stories

No stories found.
The News Minute
www.thenewsminute.com