Lucknow: Rousing from its political inertia on reverse migration, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has directed all district magistrates to open quarantine centres and kitchens for migrant labourers returning home from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab and other states.
A large number of migrant labourers from eastern Uttar Pradesh have already arrived in their hometowns without being quarantined and testing for coronavirus. All trains coming from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab and other states are crammed with migrant labourers.
Finally, on Wednesday, the Chief Minister directed DMs of all 75 districts to open quarantine centres to house migrant labourers. In a throwback to May 2020, kitchens will be set up at these quarantine centres to provide food free of cost to labourers’ and their families.
Directives have been also issued to conduct RT PCR tests on the migrants and allow only those persons who test negative to travel onwards to their final destination. Those who test positive will be quarantined for 14 days at the centre.
The CM has also directed officials to open counters for their registration and skill mapping, so that they are provided job opportunities in their hometowns and villages. Orders have also been passed to make available ration kits to them.
A study conducted by the Harvard University had lauded the efforts of the Yogi Adityanath government in dealing with the migrant labourers’ crisis in May 2020. But in the ongoing second surge, the state government has been sluggish in its response, say, in making proper arrangements. The measures announced on Wednesday are too little and too late.
