Over 360 Odia migrants, who were stranded in Jammu due to the nationwide lockdown, were brought to Odisha in three special flights following the initiative of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, officials said.
The returnees, mostly migrant labourers, were in a miserable condition following the lockdown triggered by Covid-19, as their income had stopped and they were unable to return home in the absence of transport facilities, officials said.
On arrival here, the returnees thanked the governments of Odisha and the Jammu and Kashmir for making arrangements for their return, officials said.
Odisha Agriculture Minister Arun Sahoo said 78 of the migrants who returned from Jammu hailed from his home district Nayagarh.
Arrangements were made to send the returnees from the airport to their respective destinations by special buses, the minister said.
After coming to know about the hardship faced by the migrants during the lockdown, the Odisha government intervened and made arrangement for their safe return.
The state government decided to airlift them by special flights from Jammu to Odisha. The total expenditure of their air tickets and other arrangements was borne by the state government.
“Arrangements were made for their smooth travel from Bhubaneswar airport to their native places,” said an official, adding that the returnees underwent health screening after their arrival at the airport here.