Over 8.29 lakh want to exit Punjab, 10,861 return

Sanjeev Verma | TNN | Updated: May 5, 2020, 07:07 IST

As per the state government records, highest number of over 4.66 lakh migrant people in Punjab who want to return to their home state are in Ludhiana district.

As per the state government records, highest number of over 4.66 lakh migrant people in Punjab who want to ret...Read More

CHANDIGARH: Even as the list of migrant workers seeking to exit Punjab touched 8.29 lakh on Monday evening, the state government was also innundated with requests from 8,739 Punjabis stranded in other states of India and 2,122 stuck in 86 countries to arrange their passage home. The maximum number of 440 Punjabis are stranded in United Arab Emirates followed by in Australia (408), Canada (330), US (116) and Malaysia (105).
As per the state government records, highest number of over 4.66 lakh migrant people in Punjab who want to return to their home state are in Ludhiana district, followed by 91,608 in Jalandhar, 66,340 in Mohali, 47,021 in Amritsar and 28,840 in Patiala district. Out of the total over 8.29 lakh migrant people registered till Monday evening, over 4.40 lakh want to return to Uttar Pradesh, over 3.05 lakh to Bihar, 14,300 to West Bengal, 13,937 to Jharkahnd and 12,924 to Madhya Pradesh.

Centre seeking fare from jobless, says PPCC chief
Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar said, “Since it is a Congress government, chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh has decided that the Punjab government will pay the fare for anybody who wants to return to his or her home from Punjab.”
But, taking a dig at the central government, Jakhar said that it was a moral bankruptcy on the part of the Centre because they seem to be not a government of people but a government of profitseekers.
“They are seeking fare from the people who are jobless for the past 40 days. They can waive thousands of crores for Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi but they do not have Rs 600 for a migrant labour who is stuck here,” he added.
Out of the total 8,739 people who want to come to Punjab, 1,838 are from Uttar Pradesh, 911 in Bihar, 899 from Maharashtra, 786 from Delhi, 710 from Haryana and 534 from Rajasthan.
The Punjab government is still accepting requests at www.covidhelp.punjab.gov.in of those people who want to travel out of Punjab. Similarly, people stranded abroad can mail on sportsministerpunjab@gmail.com or on psnri@gmail.com if they want to return to Punjab.