Expedite return of migrant workers, industries urge govt

Desperate to go home, the migrants have begun to plead to their employers to facilitate their movement to home towns. “There shouldn’t be further delay in sending them as migrant workers have already become depressed, while being away from their family and out of work for over a month. If they are sent now, the workers may definitely return in a month, by when the knitwear industry may also pick up production activity,” said MP Muthurathinam, president of Tirupur Exporters and Manufacturers Association (TEAMA).

Any further delay in transport arrangements would only turn the workers restless, said S Vignesh, a garment manufacturer.

He said, “As there is nil work, the textile sector may not feel their absence now. However, if the migrant workers go later either delayed or when public transportation resumes, then the production activity may be hit in the textile units.” Notably, the knitwear industries are likely to start production based on the recommendations of the State government.

There are about 1.3 lakh migrant labourers hailing from Odisha, Bihar and Assam in Tirupur district. Also, few more lakh workers are in Coimbatore, Erode, Salem and Karur districts. Migrant workers have already become restive and were trooping into collector offices demanding the facilitation of their travel to home states. A group of migrant workers who turned up at the Coimbatore railway station on Saturday with a hope of catching the Shramik special train was left disappointed after they were informed that the train would not stop at the junction. Similarly, migrant workers have been visiting the Tirupur collector office demanding the administration to send them to their home towns.

“Train shuttle services should be operated twice a day to major cities like New Delhi, Kolkata, Allahabad, Varanasi and Guwahati with occupancy of 60 per cent by following social distancing norms. Migrant workers should be allowed to go on prior reservation for free,” said Muthurathinam.

In this regard, TEAMA has sent an appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and the Ministry of Railways to take speedy efforts to send the migrant workers to their home towns.