After lockdown restrictions were relaxed, around 1,31,529 native workers stranded in different districts of Andhra Pradesh have been shifted to their native places by the state government, that provided them transportation in APSRTC buses. The state government bore the cost of the bus ticket, and those travelling were given medical protocols to follow.
However, about 20,873 migrant workers are still presently lodged across 402 relief centres in Andhra Pradesh. In these relief camps, there are 12,794 migrant workers from other states and 8079 people who are natives of Andhra Pradesh, according to the state government.
The Andhra Pradesh state government claims that it is arranging food and rations with the help of non-profits for 1.1 lakh persons across relief camps during the entire lockdown period.
The state claims to have helped around, 78,900 migrant workers to get the dry ration and food by involving officials of the Labour Department.
The state has so far arranged 46 special Shramik trains for sending around 57,527 migrant labourers from other states to their native places. The state is also footing the bill for travel from relief centres to train station and also train ticket costs for the workers leaving the state but is unable to fund train ticket costs for Andhra Pradesh natives stuck in other states.
During the period from May 16 to 19 around 10,403 migrant labourers on foot were taken to relief centres. Efforts are on to send another 6,477 migrant workers in trains, these workers were found walking on foot to the native states.
Efforts are on to organize 23 additional Shramik special trains to facilitate free transportation for around the 40,000 migrant workers from relief centres to send them to their native state. These migrant workers were found walking along roads, they were shifted to relief camps on the assurance of trains being arranged for them.
Special buses were operated by Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) to drop the migrant labour belonging to Odisha and Chhattisgarh free of cost to the neighbouring district headquarters.