According to estimates, as many as 60,000 migrant labourers had come to Haryana this season for agricultural works. (Representational)

In just five days as many as 7.74 lakh migrants have applied through a government web portal to return to their native states from Haryana. The state government had launched this website Sunday. On the same portal, nearly 92,000 others have applied to be brought to Haryana from other states.

The numbers of those wanting to return and those wanting to leave now pose a big challenge to the authorities.

As of now, official sources revealed, the government has finalised plans to send only 40,000 migrant workers to their native states from Haryana. Officials believe that even those persons have applied on the web portal who are comparatively comfortable at their work places currently.

The government has plans to send migrant workers to their native places through buses too. Haryana Transport Commissioner Virender Dahiya told The Indian Express that as many as 28,000 migrant workers will be sent to Uttar Pradesh through buses of Haryana Roadways. “Buses will be used to ferry workers for 18 districts of Uttar Pradesh mainly in western UP. As many as 100 buses have gone to Uttarakhand too to ferry workers from Haryana,” said Haryana CID chief Anil Kumar Rao.

The state has also started sending migrant workers to their states via trains beginning Wednesday. First train ferrying 1,200 workers went to Bihar from Hisar on Wednesday. “Departure of five trains from Haryana (Ambala to Katihar, Rohtak to Katihar, Rewari to Sagar and Hisar to Muzaffarpur ) to ferry 6,000 workers to Bihar and Madhya Pradesh was also scheduled for Thursday. Among these, two trains were planned from Rewari to Sagar (Madhya Pradesh) while one train each was for other destinations,” said an official source.

However, late in the evening the officials said that only three trains ferrying 3,600 migrant workers went to their destinations on Thursday.

According to estimates, as many as 60,000 migrant labourers had come to Haryana this season for agricultural works.

“It’s our priority to send these migrant labourers to their native states because they don’t have any work here as the harvesting season is already over. The migrant workers engaged at shops or other establishments may wait for some time. These workers are medically examined a day before their movement to their destinations. Their temperature is checked before they board the trains at the railway stations. Packed food is also provided to them,” said Rao.

The Haryana government has bought 1,200 tickets from the railways for each of the trains. State government officials distribute these tickets to workers further free of cost. These trains, officials said, move to their destinations without any halt at any station.

A senior officer, who is engaged in the coordination with other states, told The Indian Express that those people who have applied to come to Haryana include workers from other states too. “We have reports that a large number of workers want to come to Haryana from their states mainly from Bihar to resume their work here hoping the situation will improve in coming days,” said the officer.

Meanwhile, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij Thursday clarified that those who will return the state from abroad will be put up at quarantine facilities near Delhi airport this time. “Earlier, the people who had returned India from foreign were quarantined at their homes which probably led to spread of the coronavirus. But this time, they will not be allowed to go to their homes directly. They will be allowed to move to their homes only after they spend a specific period at the quarantine facility centres,” said the minister. According to Vij, as many as 5,000 persons want to return Haryana from other countries.