Migrants violate social distancing norm in Margao

Margao: Around 500 migrants Tuesday morning queued at the Margao municipal council (MMC) help counter, set up in the commercial town’s municipal garden to help the migrants complete the process for travel to their respective home states.

The migrants, standing behind one another in a serpentine queue on the footpath encircling the garden were seen openly violating the social distancing norms. As the scene was visible to the public, the MMC authorities later, with the help of police personnel, shifted the migrants inside the municipal garden.

However, after the crowd from the footpath dispersed and rushed inside the garden, MMC chairperson and four councillors had a tough time trying to rearrange the migrants again in a queue while maintaining a social distance.

“We are not being guided properly. The MMC authorities are exhibiting a careless attitude towards us. Yesterday we were sent to the Collector’s office and from there we came here. I spent three hours in the hot sun and still could not complete the process,” said a young migrant. 

“We have completed the process for around 500 migrants till now,” said an MMC official at the counter. He said the MMC will not be able to clear the rush on Tuesday.

There was a four-member team of MMC, which collected data of the migrants and fed it online to an app while simultaneously filling up the other required forms. Chairperson of MMC Pooja Naik said most of the migrants are from Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The central government has allowed movement of the migrants to their homeland in view of the countrywide lockdown. Train services are being provided to the migrants for their travel. The central government has asked the states to compile data of the migrants and accordingly the District Collector has given that responsibility to the municipalities and panchayats.