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Provide Food and Safe Transport to Stranded Migrants during COVID-19 Lockdown

The Issue

"Should we eat mud and stones here in the city? It’s better that we go back to our villages. At least there we will get to eat roti with salt."

These words by a migrant labourer interviewed on TV while he was walking hundreds of kilometres to his home shook me.

All of India is struggling for normalcy in this 21-day lockdown in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak. But the ones who are the hardest hit are the most vulnerable of us all: the migrant labourers, who work in big cities as daily wagers.

The lockdown means they’re out of work for the next 3 weeks. With no income they can’t afford food. Before the government could announce relief packages, lakhs of them with children in tow began heading back to their villages within and across state borders. On foot, as there is no public transport either. All they want is to get back safely to their homes in their village.

Sign my petition asking the Central governments and state governments to coordinate a rescue and relief operation. This should include providing them

Safe transport to reach their villages
Food and water camps along the route

Doing so will require intense coordination across states, involving District Administrations. It is heartening to see that a few Chief Ministers have already begun reaching out to one another through social media.

Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh (where I am from), Odisha, Jharkhand, Delhi, and Punjab are already coordinating among themselves. This rescue, relief and support operation needs to involve multiple states.

Sign my petition to provide relief to stranded migrants immediately. This will be the best use of our access to social media, especially when we are unable to go out of our homes.

If we don't raise our voices for these helpless Indians then who will?

#HelpTheMigrants

Image Credit: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Shirin S Khan and Sunita Kumari ChangemakersPetition Starter

4,59,856

The Issue

"Should we eat mud and stones here in the city? It’s better that we go back to our villages. At least there we will get to eat roti with salt."

Safe transport to reach their villages
Food and water camps along the route

Image Credit: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Shirin S Khan and Sunita Kumari ChangemakersPetition Starter

Support now

4,59,856

The Decision Makers

Manoj Kumar Jha,

Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha & Spokesperson RJD

Responded

“The mass exodus of migrant workers triggered by the sudden announcement of a lockdown with no time for anyone to prepare, has taken its toll on the poorest of the poor. While the government gave due planning and thought to bringing back people stranded in other countries, it has completely failed to include migrant workers in its emergency response. India might recover from this pandemic but the crisis we have generated through this lockdown will haunt us for years to come. The sudden lockdown was a complete lack of imagination from the government. Any policy decision should look at how it will impact the last person on the ladder. When in crisis, I strongly believe that the idea of a home is not a physical space. It is that of a psychological space. It is important for us as much as the migrant labourers. At present, that space of a home for migrant workers is under a lot of stress. Not just are livelihoods being lost, lives are being lost. People are walking with the elderly and kids for hundreds of kilometres and some of them are dropping dead. Can anything be more shameful than what we have inflicted on our own citizens? The government is criminalising the migrant workforce, while it is the government’s policy on Emergency Response for Covid-19 that should be criminalised. The spray of chemicals on migrant work force in Bareilly is just another inhuman act inflicted upon our own people. Were they told what they were subjected to? Was any facility provided for changing clothes etc.? Could the government think of the same response to any other section of people? When I saw this petition, I tweeted about it because I believe that the government must come out with a solid strategy. What the Union Finance Minister has announced as emergency aid - Rs 500/- per Jan Dhan account, is a joke. It translates to Rs. 16.60/- per day. I am making a strong representation to the Prime Minister on the condition of migrant workers and their suffering. We cannot exclude them from our Covid-19 response. Yours sincerely, Manoj K Jha, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha & National Spokesperson, RJD (Image Courtesy: Reuters/Danish Siddiqui)”

Manoj Kumar Jha

Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha & Spokesperson RJD

Responded

Manish Tewari,

Member of Parliament and National Spokesperson - AICC

Responded

“Dear Citizens, The lockdown triggered by the Coronavirus pandemic has created the worst humanitarian crises in our country since the partition of 1947. When the lockdown was suddenly announced in the third week of May, almost two months after the first cases had been reported in Kerala, chaos descended everywhere. Within days, frantic migrants went on a mass exodus. The Modi government inflicted an avoidable catastrophe on itself by creating such a crisis. Without their daily income, hungry and homeless, the migrants took to the national highways. The scorching sun didn’t bother them, neither did the fact that their homes could be over 300 km away. Several poignant and heart breaking stories of human suffering have been documented. This is an issue that the Congress party and I care about deeply. I am glad that this petition on Change.org by Sunita Kumari and Shirin Shabana Khan for the safe return of our migrant brothers and sisters has been brought to my notice. As stated by our party president Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji, workers and labourers form the backbone of our economy. Their hard work and sacrifice are the foundation of our nation. Therefore there is an urgent need to to enable these helpless Indians to reach their families at zero or minimal costs. The matter needs to be handled with a sense of humanity and utmost respect. Following the Ministry of Home Affairs order dated 29th April, which mandated guidelines for the movement of persons, I am happy to share with you all that Congress-run governments in three states, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, and Rajasthan, are bearing the rail travel expenses of stranded labourers and migrants going home. On Smt. Gandhi’s instructions, Pradesh Congress Committees in all other states will be bearing the rail travel costs of every needy worker and migrant labourer. For example, the Maharashtra unit of the #Congress party has paid for the tickets of 4,627 migrants who travelled from Maharashtra to Bihar in the past couple of days. Our party’s initiative has led many other political parties and some state governments to make similar commitments. This crisis presents us an opportunity to unite as parties and as Indians to take care of one another and make these hard times easier for every single Indian. I would like you to remain updated on our work by following us on Twitter @INCIndia and @ManishTewari Thank you, Manish Tewari, Member of Parliament, Sri Anandpur Sahib(Punjab) National Spokesperson, Indian National Congress Former Information and Broadcasting Minister, Govt. Of India”

Manish Tewari

Member of Parliament and National Spokesperson - AICC

Responded