Return of migrants from Haryana to U.P. continues

Uttar Pradesh continued to receive migrants returning from Haryana on Sunday. After 2,224 migrants returned from Haryana on Saturday, around 9,800 came back to their home State in buses on Sunday, said a senior government official.

“Many are on the way,” said Awanish Awasthi, Additional Chief Secretary, Home department.

The Uttar Pradesh government last week announced that it would start bringing back its migrant labourers and workers stranded in other States due to the lockdown. The State estimates that around 5 to 10 lakh migrant workers could return in the next two months, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath told district-level officials at a meeting on Friday.

Those returning from other States would be kept under quarantine after a medical inspection, said Mr. Awasthi.

“We will ensure they won’t face any problems,” he said.

Many of the migrants from Haryana reached Meerut on their way home. Among them was Sakib, who worked as a hawker in Punjab. After the shutdown and being kept in quarantine in Haryana since March 28, Sakib, along with a motley group of labourers, was brought to Meerut in a bus.

“We are grateful to the government; we will be home during the month of Ramzan,” said Sakib.