Rahul Gandhi to Centre: You did not count means no migrant deaths?

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi Tuesday said that the world has seen migrants dying during the Covid-induced lockdown but only the NDA government was unaware of it.

The Congress leader was reacting to the Centre’s claim in Parliament that no data was available on the deaths of migrant workers during the nationwide lockdown in the country.

“Did the death not take place if you did not count? But yes, it is sad the government was unaffected by it, The world saw their deaths, only the Modi government was not aware of it,” he tweeted in Hindi.

मोदी सरकार नहीं जानती कि लॉकडाउन में कितने प्रवासी मज़दूर मरे और कितनी नौकरियाँ गयीं।

तुमने ना गिना तो क्या मौत ना हुई?
हाँ मगर दुख है सरकार पे असर ना हुई,
उनका मरना देखा ज़माने ने,
एक मोदी सरकार है जिसे ख़बर ना हुई।

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 15, 2020

On Monday, the Ministry of Labour and Employment, responding to a question on whether thousands of migrant labourers lost their lives during this period, through a written reply, said “no such data is available”.

On whether any compensation or relief was provided to the victim’s family, the government said, “Question does not arise in view of the previous question.”

Additionally, the government said that it had also not kept track of the job losses amid the pandemic. “No such data is maintained,” it said.

-with PTI inputs

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App.