In a touching gesture, Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney on Friday interacted with migrant labourers on the national highway near Kanaka Durgamma Varadhi, and enquired about their problems.
Moved by their plight, Ms. Sawhney spoke to the Collectors and Joint Collectors of Krishna and Guntur districts and directed them to provide food, shelter and arrange transportation to their home States.
More than 200 migrant labourers, a majority of them from Bihar, were seen trekking on the highway.
Ms. Sawhney, who was returning from the Chief Minister’s Office, immediately stopped on seeing the workers. The CS enquired about their health condition, the place they worked, their home State and for how many days they had been walking.
When the workers replied that they were coming from Chennai and heading towards Bihar, she enquired about food, drinking water facilities for them en route. Ms. Sawhney wondered how they managed to cross the inter-State border and walked through Nellore, Prakasam and reached Guntur district.
Medical tests
Krishna district Collector A.Md. Imtiaz told The Hindu that 186 workers of Bihar were shifted to various shelter homes in the district and the rest to Guntur district.
“Following the directions of the CS, we have arranged transportation for all the workers in Shramik Special Train going to Bihar. They will board the train at Krishna Canal Junction tonight after undergoing medical tests as per COVID-19 protocol,” Mr. Imtiaz said.
