Centre reviews migrant worker welfare amid new covid wave
Premium- At present, there is no report of unusual movement of migrant workers owing to the limited restrictions imposed by state governments, said an official statement
NEW DELHI : The central government has reviewed the preparedness of states and union territories in addressing any hardship migrant workers could face amid rising cases of coronavirus infections.
At present, there is no report of unusual movement of migrant workers owing to the limited restrictions imposed by state governments, said an official statement on Thursday.
The virtual co-ordination meeting with states and union territories was held on Wednesday. Sunil Barthwal, secretary in the ministry of labour and employment chaired the meeting.
State governments informed that barring night curfews and weekend curfews at a few places, there were no restrictions on construction activities, business activities, running of shops and industrial activities in the country.
Central and state governments are keeping a close watch on the current situation. Some state governments have made plans of distributing rations to laborers while some have made preparations to provide financial assistance.
Railways is also on the watch, especially in major cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore, the statement said. In case the situation worsens, they are ready to provide special trains for migrant laborers.
Over 21 crore unorganized workers have registered themselves on the e-Shram Portal. The portal was put in place to facilitate state governments to timely plan and deliver financial and other benefits to the workers. Twenty-one monitoring centers are activated across the country by the office of chief labour commissioner. The states have opened toll free helplines to assist the workers, the statement said.
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