scorecardresearch
Friday, March 29, 2024
Support Our Journalism
HomeIndiaCM Soren wants to bring migrants back on chartered flights, asks Amit...

CM Soren wants to bring migrants back on chartered flights, asks Amit Shah for permission

CM Hemant Soren's letter says Jharkhand govt will bear cost of flying the workers, 900 of whom are stuck in Ladakh, Northeast and Andaman & Nicobar islands.

Follow Us :
Text Size:

New Delhi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking permission to run chartered flights to bring back about 900 migrant workers, who are stranded in inhospitable terrains of Ladakh and north-eastern states, to their “motherland with dignity”.

The Jharkhand government is going to bear the entire cost of flying the migrant workers back home, said the letter dated 20 May.

Soren’s letter is more of a political messaging at a time when the Narendra Modi government has got mired in controversy over its decision to charge migrant workers for transporting them to their respective home state in special Shramik trains.

With this move, Jharkhand has also become the first state to demand permission to fly back stranded migrant workers.


Also read: How her Leftist advisors left Priyanka, and Congress, red faced in UP over buses for migrants


‘Difficult terrain’

In his letter, CM Hemant Soren wrote, “Due to difficult terrain of these states it is extremely difficult to evacuate them by train or bus. One of the better viable solutions can be lifting by air. This is not possible in the present circumstances because plying of service and chartered flights has been prohibited by the lockdown orders issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs.”

Before this, Jharkhand Chief Secretary Sukhdeo Singh had written to Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on 12 May seeking permission to run a chartered flight to Andaman and Nicobar Islands to bring back the state’s stranded migrant workers.

But the Jharkhand government is yet to get a response from the Centre.

“We are waiting to hear from the Centre as without their permission the chartered flights can’t be operated,” said a state government official who didn’t wish to be named.

Soren in his letter further said that it was him who had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow interstate movement of stranded workers and other persons to facilitate their return to Jharkhand.

“My request was acceded to and so far we have been able to bring back around 1.5 lakh stranded workers, students and other persons by trains and buses,” the letter said.

Over 4 lakh migrant workers from Jharkhand, who were working in cities, got stuck without money or other resources after the nationwide lockdown was enforced on 25 March to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Many of them started for their homes on foot. After the migrant labour crisis hit headlines, the Modi government stepped in to provide buses and later special trains to transport the workers home.


Also read: India’s battling its biggest migrant labour crisis. And labour minister Gangwar is ‘missing’


 

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Telegram & WhatsApp

Support Our Journalism

India needs fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. ThePrint – with exceptional reporters, columnists and editors – is doing just that.

Sustaining this needs support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can take a paid subscription by clicking here.

Support Our Journalism

11 COMMENTS

  1. So much hue n cry….one basic question why after 72 year of Independence we have such a large force of migrant labourers in unorganised sector !! Why most of the migrant are from eastern UP,Bihar n the state carved out of Bihar ?? What have the Govt done in 72 years….it’s very easy to play politics on it. The Congress should answer why after 54 years of their Govt they could not formulate any policy or system for them ??

  2. The plight & conditions of millions of migrating workers since the unplanned,arbitrary order of the govt.brings years in the eyes of their brethren & citizens…it will be very unfortunate event engraved in the pages of history ….outcrying the conditions meted out to the workers..who are the backbone of society /nation keeping wheels of progress & economy moving…

  3. I wonder where the 1000 crores rupees are used which were announced by PM from Pm cares for Migrant labour when migrants are being asked to pay fare in special Shramik Trains. PM CARES should usE the allocated money for transportation of Migrants.

  4. I wish I hope they never come back to these cruel cities and their heartless people May they find warmth and dignity and livelihoods in their homelands

  5. We know how much RAGA is bothered about Migrants . Who is betraying whom every one knows , in this country . One can do any amount of photo shoot s , but it’s not going to help .

  6. The letter of Jharkhand CM to HM Mr Amit Shah is like a slap to the BJP’s Govt., a lesson to the PM showing him that poor are also humans and citizens of India , and are to be treated with dignity, coz these people are most hard working people of India , it’s a lesson to PM not to be PM of the rich buisnessmen only , not to sell pieces of India to this rich buisnessmen , and in the name of Swanirbhar , please don’t fool the people of India who may have falsely placed trust in you by voting you as PM , not knowing that you are a master of deceit and by the time you are finished , we would be lucky if half the territory remains for the people to call as their country , your friend Trump on whom you lavishly spent Rs 100/- Corores public money for his fun rally , has stabed you in the back , by warning all American companies not to invest in India after shifting from China , the saying that like minded cheats become friends too fast.

  7. Very few states want the immigrant laborers to return to their native places. They don’t know how to handle the heightened expectations they and the media has fuelled, besides the fear of infections from immigrants from cities like Mumbai. This can be seen from the very low number of trains that have reached Jharkhand, Bengal, Kerala etc.

  8. Since most states are willing to bear the cost of transporting their migrants which the insensitive PM, HM and all others have betrayed them, neglected them and lied about giving them food and money,,, next question is,, What happened to all the donations received??? Is thePM CARING for it for a rainy day???? The migrants have been mistreated and insulted by this govt and its law makers,,, soon a lesson to be learnt next year

    • The migrants issue has become messy….asking them to pay fare after leaving them roofless and without food for weeks. Their valuable contribution to infra projects, industries and transport have all been forgotten and repaid in the negative. Our GDP will tumble only for this single major blunder. We are ungrateful.

    • First of all who allowed migrant labours to leave their working states, ?
      It’s States responsibilities to give them free food n money, why blame center ??
      Stop talking nonsense

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular