Coronavirus lockdown: Migrant workers stage flash protest defying curbs in Chennai

Defying curbs and norms like physical distancing, migrant workers on Saturday staged a flash protest at different locations here, demanding that authorities send them to their home states like Jharkhand immediately, an official said.

Follow latest updates on the COVID-19 pandemic here

The workers, mostly involved in construction activities and housed at various facilities here, suddenly converged at locations, including Velachery, Pozhichallur and Guindy Industrial Estate, demanding that they be sent home, he said.

Groups of people from states including Odisha and West Bengal, meanwhile, thronged the Collectorate at Vellore District, urging authorities to facilitate their return to their home towns. Approximately 3,000 people are stranded at Vellore, including Bangladeshis, most of whom had come to the city to avail treatment at the Christian Medical College Hospital.

Asked about people wishing to return to their home towns, another official merely said that TNePASS (tnepass.tnega.org) system is in place for processing requests. However, he did not elaborate.

The website read: "Individuals can apply for marriage, medical emergency or close relative's death only." A large gathering of workers from various states, including Odisha and Jharkhand -engaged in various construction activities in southern suburbs- staged a demonstration at Pozhichallur.

Clad in lungies and towels and sans face masks, they raised slogans, demanding that the authorities send them home. Police and revenue officials assured them that their demand would be considered expeditiously. Another protest was held at the Five Furlong Road junction in Velachery.

The protests led to anxiety for a while, the official said, adding that authorities pacified the workers and sent them back to their respective locations of stay. One more group of labourers gathered in front of a construction site at Guindy. They had worked at that site ahead of the clampdown due to COVID-19. Munna, a worker from Bihar told PTI: "We are prepared to walk all the way home if it is not possible for the government to arrange transport to our hometown.

Deb, another worker from West Bengal, said he and his colleagues have been confined to an under-construction building in Velacherry for a little over a month and was struggling without wages. I cant sit idle here, without work or wages. I would rather go home to be with my family, he said.

On the claims on another protest at Maduravoyal here, a police official said "no protest happened there today." Government authorities indicated that the return of guest workers was being planned and their journey to their home states through trains will be scheduled soon. However, the authorities remained tight lipped about the timing, hinting at the possibility of huge crowds of workers turning up simultaneously.