A day after the Uttar Pradesh government accepted an offer by Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to allow the party to ferry migrant labourers back home in buses arranged by it, the Yogi administration has slightly tweaked its response on the matter. In a new letter sent to the Congress leader, the UP government has asked for 500 buses each to be sent to Noida and Ghaziabad that border Delhi.
In a letter to Priyanka's private secretary, Awanish Awasthi, Uttar Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary (Home), had earlier said the offer was accepted and sought credentials of drivers, conductors, and other details to be handed over at state capital Lucknow so they can be deployed to help migrant workers.
However, Congress had criticised this move and called it "totally influenced by politics". Sandeep Singh, Priyanka Gandhi's private secretary, said that it would serve no real purpose to have the buses, which are currently at the state border, to travel empty all the ay over to Lucknow only for a "formal handover".
However, soon after this, the UP government has now asked the district magistrates to utilise the buses at the earliest after checking the documents and ferry migrant labourers back home in buses arranged by the Congress.
Vadra had on Saturday wrote to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath seeking permission for the buses sourced by the Congress from Rajasthan, where the party is in power, to be allowed to carry migrant workers home. Her letter came on the day 24 migrant workers were killed and 36 injured when a trailer rammed into a stationary truck, both carrying passengers, on a highway near Auraiya in Uttar Pradesh.
She also posted a video message on Twitter on Sunday, appealing for the same.
"Respected chief minister, I am requesting you, this is not the time for politics. Our buses are standing at the border. Thousands of labourers and migrants are walking towards their homes without food or water and after fighting all troubles. Let us help them. Give permission to our buses," she said.
In another tweet, she said, "Our buses are standing at the border. Thousands of nation-builders workers and migrants are walking in the sun. Give permission Yogi Adityanath ji. Let us help our brothers and sisters."
Soon after accepting her request, Yogi had said that his government was arranging 12,000 buses to ferry the migrant labourers back home from various state borders.