AAP MLA Sanjay Singh (File Photo/PTI)

Member of Parliament from Aam Aadmi Party and Delhi minister Sanjay Singh is using the flight tickets he is entitled to as a parliamentarian to ferry 33 migrant workers to Bihar. Each MP is entitled to 34 business class tickets in a year. Singh said he will be utilising his quota of tickets to send migrant workers home.

“With the help of our colleagues, I have worked to send more than 1,200 migrant labourers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh to their homes in 42 buses. In one year, as an MP, we get 34 air tickets from the government. I am using these tickets to sent stranded migrant to Patna,” Singh told news agency ANI.

Singh is accompanying 21 out of 33 migrant labourers today while the remaining 12 will be flying to Patna tomorrow. Singh said he has also arranged for a separate flight to send 180 migrants back home in Bihar. “Today 21 companions are going with us and tomorrow 12 others will go again to Patna with me. I also want to inform you that I will send 180 stranded migrants in a separate plane tomorrow from Delhi to Patna,” he said.

सांसद को साल भर में मिलने वाली 34 फ़्लाइट का इस्तेमाल प्रवासी साथियों को पटना पहुँचाने के लिए करूँगा साथियों और स्वयं सेवी संस्थाओं के सहयोग से कल 4.6.2020 को भी 180 व 12 प्रवासी मज़दूरों को दो अलग अलग फ़्लाइट से पटना लेकर जाऊँगा, सभी सहयोगी साथियों का हृदय से आभार।

— Sanjay Singh AAP (@SanjayAzadSln) June 3, 2020

Posting information about the developments, the Aam Aadmi Party tweeted praising the MP and referred to him as a “migrant messiah” who went beyond his call of duty to unite families. The MP’s noble act comes amid a huge row over the Delhi government’s decision to seal its borders to outsiders for a week. The BJP has charged the Delhi government led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of acting against the spirit of federalism. With people from across the country visiting Delhi for treatment at AIIMS and other top hospitals, the move has been criticised as one against the larger interest of the people.

However, the AAP government has stood right behind the decision, citing the need for hospital beds in Delhi for its residents. Addressing the people of Delhi on Monday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the government has decided to seal its borders with adjoining states for a week and sought suggestions from citizens on the way forward.

“The moment we open the borders, people from across the country will come to Delhi for treatment. Delhi hospitals should be reserved for the people of Delhi,” Kejriwal said.