Sahibee Anand, National Executive Member of BJP youth wing and Municipal Councillor from Mohali has criticised the Punjab government for leaving the migrants to mercy of God.In a statement issued today, Sahibee Anand said that after the Centre extended the lockdown, especially for the third time, a large number of migrants started returning home by what ever mode of transport available to them. A large number of them even started their journey back home on foot.He said, ''We expected the Punjab Government to specify what the government is doing to ferry migrants who are walking on the roads back to their homes and sleeping on road side, but nothing like that is happening because Punjab govt and it’s ministers are too busy in fighting for power.''Sahibee Anand added that it is grave insensitivity of the Punjab government which is doing nothing for the workers, but talking about measures ahead.“There is a dense darkness and these are difficult times, have courage, all of us are standing for the safety of all of them. Sahibee said, adding that he will ensure that the screams of migrants reach the deaf ears of Punjab government and they get the help they deserve. ''They are not the ordinary public of the country, they are the flag bearers of the country’s self-respect. We should never let them bow down,” He said.Anand in his statement said that the Migrants are preferring trucks, tempos to return home Even as special Shramik trains and buses are being run by the center government to ferry stranded migrant labourers from Punjab and other states, most of them still prefer to travel in vehicles like trucks and tempos to return home, flouting the social distancing norms.He said that the migrants find trucks and tempos convenient, mostly because they drop them close to their home in their respective states, unlike the buses which carry them only till the state border, while the trains ferry them to their home state, from where they have to arrange for vehicles to reach their places.
However, their journey in trucks and tempos is not safe as these vehicles are almost always tightly packed, due to which the risk of contracting COVID-19 infection is higher.Sahibee Anand said that the truckers charge anywhere in the range of Rs 2500 to Rs 4,500 per person for the journey to Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand depending upon the distance to their native places from Punjab. Several of them said that they were forced to undertake journey in vehicles like trucks, as their efforts in seeking permission for Shramik special trains did not get any response and they are forced to sleep on road side.Ramesh Kumar, a worker, who was heading to Lucknow, said, "For the train journey, I had first applied online, then visited local police station in Mohali, after getting no help I visited to DC office in Mohali, where I was stopped from going inside. However, I did not get any response and hence decided to take road journey." Sahibee Anand said, Punjab Government rather than ordering RTO and police officials to take action against the vehicles owners, which are illegally carrying migrants from one place to another without permission, has ordered all the district administrators to tell private bus operators to charge money from the migrants who want to go to their home state, which is very shameful. Though the state government has told all the district heads to give permission to private bus operators to ferry migrants from one place to their home state, for which the government has fixed the price, company can take from one person, which is really wrong. Sahibee said that rather than making Migrants pay, the Punjab Government should pay their fare from CM relief Fund in which people of Punjab are putting money everyday.
Sahibee called Punjab govt ‘moronic’ for charging migrants and termed migrant workers the “backbone” of India’s economy and “ambassadors” of the nation’s growth. He requested the Punjab government to bear the costs of migrants travel on humanitarian grounds. He asked that when will our state Government recognise its responsibility towards people who are helping the most in nation building."What else is CM relief Fund for?" If the state is making the migrants pay the bus fare, he questioned,
Anand said, the authorities, turn a blind eye towards the vehicles ferrying labourers illegally without following any social distancing norms and without any permission.He also said that, for Congress and Punjab Government , Migrant Workers Are Not Citizens. ''This is why I blame the Punjab Government responsible for terrible condition of migrant workers. '' He saidHe said that today, in the hour of crisis, our migrant brothers and sisters should at least get respect and support. The government should take concrete steps as soon as possible so that it does not become a major tragedy. He also, said that migrants were facing immense distress after the lockdown. They have lost faith in the Punjab government as they have either lost their jobs or had no money to fend for themselves in cities. "The state government was ill prepared as far as fighting this coronavirus is concerned.'' He saidHe said the first immediate thing is that the state government should ensure migrants are adequately taken care of and they are not left on the streets and on highways. Social distancing should also be maintained while transporting them home and proper information of train schedule should be shared with them as the migrants are forced to sleep on streets with kids.He also demanded that the state government should do adequate arrangements for their food and stay even when they are called for screening. He said that in Mohali, around 1 lakh migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand have registered with the administration to go back to their states, of which around 12,000 have already left by trains and buses.
Some have walked back.Sahibee Anand, national executive member, BJP Youth Wing, who distributed Bananas to the migrants, who were waiting near the Sports Complex in sector 78 Mohali from couple of days, for their turn to go back to there respective home state, by train. He said that “We tried to stop some of the migrants who were going to other states , but they were adamant, saying that for the past two months they had not received any dry rations from the government. The state government has not done anything to stop them. This will result in huge economic loss to industry and agriculture.The labourers alleged that they were neither given food nor provided shelter in the night. They came to the police station after vacating their rented rooms, hence could not go back. Even their landlord had also asked them not to come back, they added.More than 500 people from different states assembled at the sports complex in sector 78 Mohali, station on Sunday, on getting a message about their transportation to the home state. ''We have got our medical done, still We waited till sunset, but no arrangement was made for our travel in the train which left for our home state. The cops later asked us to return to our rooms and come again in the morning. Since then we are here waiting for our turn.'' Said Pappu Pandey, who has been staying here from last 5 days, under a tree near sports complex of Mohali where screening is taking place.''For over two weeks, Mukesh Ansari has been spending sleepless nights. When he drifts into sleep, the image of his two-year-old daughter’s wailing face jolts him awake. Ansar is consumed by guilt as he imagines that his daughter is crying from hunger. Till dawn breaks, the 36-year-old daily wager paces up and down the cramped room he shares with four others. The future looks grim for Ansari, who came to Mohali 16 years ago looking for a job. He has been working as a mason and earned Rs 500 daily. But with no work in the last fortnight, he’s gone to bed hungry most days. The uncertainty and helplessness is now driving him into despair. He reads the Quran when things reach a breaking point.'' Sahibee said