With Maharashtra being the worst-hit by COVID-19 infections in India, lakhs of stranded workers are desperate to return to their native villages even in the middle of the pandemic.
After the BJP-ruled states of Haryana and Karnataka, Maharashtra too is considering cash transfers to persuade migrant workers to stay back.
An expert panel set up by the Uddhav Thackeray-led government has recommended direct bank transfers for the next three months for the entire labour force engaged in the unorganised sector. A state Cabinet sub-committee is expected to discuss the move on Friday.
The recommendation comes at a time when industry captains have warned that the ongoing reverse migration will hurt the pace of the industry’s revival from the damage inflicted by the coronavirus lockdown.
With Maharashtra being the worst-hit by COVID-19 infections in India, lakhs of stranded workers are desperate to return to their native villages even in the middle of the pandemic.
The 11-member expert committee, comprising senior serving and retired bureaucrats, which was set up by the state government early last month for suggesting ways to revive the state’s economy, has said in its report that the unorganised sector has been the worst-hit due to the lockdown.
“With the economic activity coming to a screeching halt during the lockdown, lakhs of daily wage earners have almost gone without earning a single rupee for a month-and-a-half. The livelihood of most workers is at stake. They need government’s financial support,” the panel’s report states. About 12 crore workers are engaged in Maharashtra’s urorganised sector, as per records.