COVID-19: Gujarat govt bans mass exodus of migrants, assures of food, shelter

The Gujarat government on Friday decided that no migrant workers will be allowed to travel back to their natives during the lockdown period. The officials said that district administrations have been instructed to provide food and accommodation to such workers during the lockdown and stop their movement.

Earlier this week, thousands of daily wage earners started going back to their native homes on foot in neighbouring Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat after the lockdown was announced. After media reports on mass exodus, the state government allowed transporting them from Rajasthan border and other parts of Gujarat to their homes.

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Ashwin Kumar, secretary to the chief minister, told reporters on Friday, “District administrations have been asked to make arrangements for their food and accommodation. It has been decided that they won’t be allowed to travel anymore till the lockdown period is over.” He said that a helpline number (1077) has been set up for migrant labourers who can contact for help for their stay and food.

Kumar informed that for two days, the chief minister had allowed these workers to leave and arranged for their transportation but now it has been stopped. He said that the government had deployed 150 state transport buses and 500 privates buses to take them home.

Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths

Although there is no official figure on number of such workers in the state, the mass exodus is being reported from all the major cities of the state including Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot and Vadodara. A large number of people from Rajasthan work in these cities as construction workers, household helpers, in food joints and other areas. Besides, a significant number of tribals from central and south Gujarat also migrate to cities in search of work.