“With the stranded labourers in other States restive and embarking upon foot marches to reach their respective States, the govt needs to respond appropriately by pressing additional shramik special trains to evacuate all such work force. It was most unfortunate that several migrant workers had died in other States during the course of transit as dozens had been crushed under trains and other motor vehicles during their journey. The said workers had resorted to such foot marches out of sheer frustration and despair in view of non availability of requisite road or rail transport facility and lack of communication with the concerned Nodal Officers announced with much fan fare by the govt”. This was stated by Harsh Dev Singh, Chairman-JKNPP & former Minister who sat on dharna to impress upon the govt the urgency of early eviction of all migrant work force of J&K held up in other States.
Accusing the J&K Administration of lackadaisical approach in addressing the plight of languishing work force in outside States, Mr. Singh said that the desperation of the workers was growing with each passing day in view of lack of response from concerned agencies and defunct helplines. “None of the workers held up outside knew about the probable date of his evacuation. No calendar had been issued by the J&K govt in this regard for any of the States. Besides several top officers had refused to make any statement in this regard with onus being deflected from one bureaucrat to the other. The confusion amongst the concerned authorities had further compounded the gravity of the situation with workers getting restless and attempting to reach back by whatever means which could further aggravate crisis” observed Singh. He called for deploying addition shramik special trains for the said workers with proper SOPs and social distancing provisions. Pointing towards the plight of the workers who had reached J&K from other States and were detained in quarantine centres, Mr. Singh called for provision of proper food and essential items including medical aid to the needy. He said that dozens of complaints were pouring in everyday regarding unhygienic food, acute scarcity of water and necessary medicines in the said centres. He further expressed concern over the huge delay caused in conducting the medical tests of the returnees as their prolonged stay in huge numbers in one complex was fraught with inherent dangers. He called for enhanced number of Covid-19 tests with establishment of additional labs for the purpose. The control of pandemic and addressing the plight of the vulnerable people and work force needed focused attention of the govt, said Harsh.