Return of migrant labourers: TN govt expecting Centre's guidelines on logistics

Migrant workers, tourists, students and others stranded in different parts of the country were on Wednesday allowed to move to their respective destinations by the Centre with certain conditions, giving a big relief to the distressed people.

The state government was expecting guidelines by Thursday evening on the logistics involved in the process, the senior labour department official said.

"The issue of students from other states stranded in Tamil Nadu also arose while discussing about the migrant workers, at a meeting of an expert committee constituted by Chief Minister K Palaniswami. We are expecting guidelines from the Centre by this evening on the logistics of shifting them," the official said.

The state government was keen on sending them home and would wait for clear cut instruction from the central government on the mode of transportation and the wherewithal involved in the process.

Hosiery town of Tiruppur, which accounts for two lakh migrant workers, and Chennai with 1.34 lakh work force, have the highest concentration of such labourers in the state.

In neighbouring Kancheepuram district, around 38,000 migrant workers have been identified by the administration.

About a month into lockdown, the home ministry had on Wednesday relaxed lockdown measures to allow movement of migrant workers across states but with strict health protocols.

Listing the conditions, the ministry said all states and union territories should designate nodal authorities and develop standard protocols for receiving and sending such stranded persons.

The Tamil Nadu government, taking the plight of the workers into consideration, has announced the distribution of Covid-19 relief kit containing 15 kg of rice, one kg each dal and oil to lakhs of migrant workers from Assam, Odisha, West Bengal and Gujarat stranded in the state.

The stranded workers also seem to be in a mood to go back home.

"We are very keen on going home. This coronavirus lockdown has not only denied us work but also separated us from our family," said Kans Ram, one among five construction workers from Basti in UP who got stranded at his work site in Maduravoyal here.

Like him, the other four too want to return home.

"But we have not received any intimation from the government or police on being sent home. We hope this ordeal will end soon and we reunite with our family," he added.

Some of the workers said they could not even receive the state government's relief of Rs.1,000, as they don't possess family ration cards here.

"We were not even able to obtain this sum during this hard times when we are hardly receiving any support from the industry, especially in terms of wages. We have no option but to get back to our state," says V. Singh, another construction worker from Jharkhand.