Thousands of migrant workers, who have been put up in camps and shelter homes since the imposition of the nationwide lockdown in March, came on to the road, saying they wanted to go home.
As news of the Centre extending the lockdown till May 3 spread, the labourers became impatient and entered into arguments with the managements on Tuesday.
The labourers, hailing from Odisha, Bihar, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, were eking out their living by working in chilli, paddy and maize fields, construction sites, brick kilns, aqua industries and spinning mills located in various districts in the State.
After the lockdown, many industries suspended their operations. However, a majority of workers were kept in camps and shelter homes.
About 65,000 migrant labourers and more than 10,000 homeless and beggars were staying in shelter homes and night shelters in the State. Following the directions of the court, the government is providing food, clothes, beds and other facilities in the camps.
Unable to bear the separation from their families and loss of livelihood, many labourers started trekking back to their respective home States, but were stopped by the police at check-posts and sent to shelter homes.
About 50 migrant workers of Odisha staying in a camp in Mohan Spintex Limited at Mallavalli village in Krishna district demanded that the management release them. When there was no response, they came out of the gates and started raising slogans.
Police enter the scene
On being alerted, the Veeravalli police rushed to the scene and tried to pacify the labourers. Krishna district Superintendent of Police M. Ravindranath Babu said the situation was under control in the village.
“We were told that we would be sent back to our villages today, but the situation changed after Centre extended the lockdown. We cannot stay here indefinitely as we have to take care of our parents and families,” said a labourer fighting back tears.