Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday created a huge uproar as he ordered the cancellation of all trains meant to take migrant workers to their hometowns in the north amid the Covid crisis.
The cancellation came minutes after the CM held a high-level meeting with top representatives of real estate industry who told the government they cannot start activities without the labour.
But what appalled many was while the CM played ball with the builders, he failed to announce any incentives for the migrant workers to stay back. However, the CM announced a slew of incentives for farmers, cab and auto drivers, barbers, horticulture sector etc totalling Rs1,610 crore.
The government did not release any official letter on the cancellation of the trains, but Manjunath Prasad, the nodal officer for interstate travel of migrant workers, wrote to AK Singh, the general manager of South Western Railway, stating while 10 trains were requested by the state initially, the letter was being withdrawn.
Later, the labour dept secretary, Captain Manivannan, tweeted, “Now, they can go only after the lockdown is lifted. Let them stay put.
We will take care of them.” Labour right activists slammed the government for treating migrants as bonded labourers. But the reality is otherwise. Most workers are desperate to leave the city as they have been living without pay for 40 days. Neither the builders nor the government have come to their rescue.
Those who have been paid a measly amount have been told the money would be deducted in the future. Amid all this came reports migrant workers in Bengaluru’s upmarket Whitefield were allegedly beaten up and kicked out of homes. They say they have not been paid for 2 months.
In a Covid-related development, a special division bench of the Karnataka HC on Wednesday questioned the Ramanagara deputy commissioner why officials had not imposed a cap on the number of people who could attend Nikhil Kumaraswamy wedding on April 17.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice Abhay Sreenivas Oka and Justice BV Nagarathna, questioned the government how the deputy commissioner was allowed to grant blanket permission without imposing curbs on the number of guests at the farmhouse in Ramanagara. Meanwhile, Karnataka today reported 20 new cases taking the total to 693 Covid positive cases.
