The Bihar Foundation (BF), started by the Bihar government to assist migrant casual labourers working in Maharashtra, has joined the relief efforts in the State.
BF has started pravasi kitchens to cater to displaced migrants in Mumbai and in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) .
“There are 4,000 to 5,000 migrants, mostly engaged as daily wage labourers, who are registered with the foundation in Mumbai and Greater Mumbai alone,” said Abhay Kumar, an Indian Revenue Service officer and chairman of the foundation.
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On March 30, the resident commissioner of Bihar posted in New Delhi as well as the State’s chief secretary wrote to Maharashtra chief secretary Ajoy Mehta and sought a more coordinated engagement between the Maharashtra administration and the Bihar Foundation to provide food and shelter to displaced migrants who are now on the streets due to the lockdown.
Over the past week, BF has set up pravasi kitchens at Dharavi to feed 1,000 people every day. Similarly, kitchens in Govandi and Vashi feed 450 and 150 people a day respectively. There are also kitchens in Thane and Kalyan.
On March 31, the foundation reached out to 250 migrants stranded in Sion Koliwada, providing them with three weeks’ provisions.
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The foundation has also set up a central control room at its office in the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) premises in Bandra Kurla Complex. Another virtual control room has also been operationalised to coordinate efforts for the families of migrant casual labour displaced by Covid-19.
The 250 people stranded at Sion Koliwada were employed with various infrastructure projects in the city, with the contractors not paying them for their sustenance despite directives to the effect from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Mr. Kumar said. The foundation has also requested the Maharashtra government to allow it to take over a few school facilities in Mumbai city to operate shelters for displaced migrant families.
While the government is yet to accede to the request, Pune collector Naval Bajaj and the local administration in Pimpri-Chinchwad allotted a school in Nigadi near the city for use as a shelter home with a capacity of more than 3,000.
BF has also made operational the Bihar Rahat Aapada Kendra at a polytechnic in Bhiwandi, and a school in Kalyan was made available for providing shelter to the migrants.
“We have 15,000 sq. ft. space and will be able to accommodate around 1,500 migrants in Bhiwandi,” said Mr. Kumar. More relief centres were needed to accommodate the large number of displaced migrants in the MMR, he said.
Prajakta Lavangare, who is at the helm of the Maharashtra COVID-19 control room, said the State government was responsive to all requests being received to help the displaced migrants. The government is also planning to convert the Goregaon Exhibition Centre into a shelter facility.
The Bihar government has written to the Maharashtra government seeking data of the assistance in the form of food and shelter provided to migrants from its State and has even offered to reimburse the costs.
There are plenty of challenges the initiative faces, said Mr. Kumar. “We are able to feed 1,000 people at the Dharavi kitchen facility within a limited space. I am pained that there are hundreds of people in the area who went to sleep hungry last night. The available space also leaves a lot to be desired in terms of hygiene and quality.”
A BF volunteer said State officials informed them that foodgrains and other provisions being made available for these migrants will last at best for another week unless the Union government steps in.
The Supreme Court has mandated that all facilities for providing food to stranded people should be stocked up for atleast a year.
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