Goa Government Tasked to Send Migrant Workers Home, Many of Them Stranded Casino Employees

In further affirmation that the ongoing nation-wide lockdown could be long-drawn, the Union Home Ministry has tasked the state administrators to arrange for the migrant workers stuck in various parts of the country to return back home.

On April 30, Goa Ports Minister Michael Lobo announced that migrant workers who are stranded in the state can return to their native regions if they can afford to pay for the transit passage. The workers, who can pay for the transit, will be transported to their respective states first after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) order issued relaxed guidelines permitting interstate movement.

After a meeting with North Goa Collector R Menaka, Lobo, who is an elected Legislator from the Calangute assembly constituency, said that there are almost 25,000 migrant workers stuck in his constituency alone, many of them employed in the hospitality and casino sectors.

He said that the state’s municipal bodies and Panchayats have been instructed to create a database of all such stranded workers looking to return back home.

Speaking to the media, Lobo said, “We welcome the MHA order that stranded people, including migrants and workers, can go back to their States. In Goa, there are many who work in hotels, casinos, shacks, water sports, etc. and want to return to their natives. We are worried about these people. They are just moving around here and there in search of food and groceries. Some of them do not have money. We plan to send them back. We have asked panchayats to compile the list of workers in their jurisdictions as it would be easier to divide the workers based on their districts and accordingly ferry them to their natives.”

“I discussed with the Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited and some private bus operators to transport the stranded workers to their native States. However, bus fares have to be borne by the workers themselves or their employers. If still not possible, then their respective State governments should help. The online transit passes for stranded migrant workers will be issued by the Goa administration from Friday.”

All casinos in the coastal state were asked to close down operations w.e.f March 14, when Goa CM Pramod Sawant imposed a state-wide lockdown. There have been three extensions already on the lockdown as India inches towards the 40,000-mark of COVID-19 positive cases. The latest extension announced by the MHA is to go on till May 17 and comes with a refreshed set of guidelines with the entire country divided into three zones to identify hotspots and ease restrictions in green zones.

Most of the stranded migrant workers are employed by the casinos and hail from the seven sister states of north-east India. The construction workers and others in the hospitality sector hail from the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal.

Lobo clarified that for those who can’t afford to pay for the travel, the District Magistrates in Goa would write to the respective states of residence of the migrant workers to try and arrange the funds for transit. Meanwhile, private vehicle owners have been granted permission to apply to cross the state borders with the respective Collectors in Goa.

Cover Image Courtesy: The Indian Express