Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit the streets and met a group of migrant workers at Delhi’s Sukhdev Vihar area.
The group of 20 migrant workers, all from Madhya Pradesh , were resting during their long journey home in Jhansi from Ambala in Haryana when Mr. Gandhi stopped for an hour-long ‘impromptu’ meeting.
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Photographs released by the Congress showed women and children among the group of migrants.
“It’s over 50 days and we have had no work. Whatever we had earned, about ₹1,000-₹2,000, we have exhausted. We did receive some rations and food items as well,” said a migrant worker who identified himself as Mahesh in a short video clip released by the party.
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“Rahul Gandhi had come and inquired about us. We felt very good that someone inquired about us. He offered to drop us to the Noida border. When we asked him if he could make some arrangements to ferry us a little more distance, he said he will try,” the worker added.
At Mr. Gandhi’s request, volunteers from the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee arranged 8-10 vehicles to help the group get back to their village by following all social distancing norms.
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Responding to rumours on social media claiming that the migrant workers Mr. Gandhi spoke to were detained by the police, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East) R.P. Meena said that no one was detained.
“After Mr. Gandhi left, the Congress workers wanted to drop the migrant workers at a distance. We first told them that workers are not allowed to move like this and secondly, they have to adhere to social distancing norms in vehicles, that is, two persons and a driver,” he said.
