Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren , who has been vocal over insensitivity towards the plight of the migrant workers, announced community kitchens along highways to provide free food to them.
Also read: Community kitchens come to the aid of many
The kitchens will be set up at a gap of 20 km. The migrant workers will be provided food and water free of cost at 94 spots so far identified, according to Mr. Soren’s office.
These workers will be taken to the nearby centre from where vehicles will be arranged to drop them at their destinations.
The CM has also ordered that migrant workers from other States who are either stranded in Jharkhand or using the State as transit route be given food.
“People should not lose humanity at the time of pandemic like this. We should set an example of humanity and amity. About 7 lakh workers from Jharkhand are stranded outside. Food and accommodation arrangements for more than 6 lakhs have been made in coordination with various State governments,” said Mr. Soren.
The government is making efforts to bring back the migrant workers stuck outside by special trains and buses, he said. Besides, Jharkhand has been providing two meals to about 45,000 people every day through 6,432 “Didi Kitchens”.
On May 15, the CM had directed all district administrations and the police to ensure that no person either belonging to Jharkhand or any other State walks towards their destinations inside the State.
Mr. Soren had in no uncertain terms criticised Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over transporting tarpaulin-wrapped bodies in an open truck. Eleven Jharkhand workers had died in road accidents in Uttar Pradesh last week.
The Jharkhand CM in a letter requested Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s permission to operate chartered flights to evacuate Jharkhand’s migrant workers stranded in Ladakh (about 200) and around northeastern States (450).
Earlier, he had made a similar request for evacuating 320 workers from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Mr. Soren has made it clear that Jharkhand would bear the cost of transportation.
