Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said patrolling on highways and expressways should be enhanced to prevent accidents of vehicles in which migrants return home.
On Friday morning, hours before the CM’s daily review meeting with his team, two migrant workers were killed and 13 others sustained injuries in an accident as they made their way back from Gujarat to the state.
A pickup truck coming from Surat, rammed into an electric pole and overturned on the Shikarpur-Ahmedpur Road in Bulandshahr. Two of the occupants of the vehicle were killed on the spot while 13 others were injured. Six days earlier, on May 16, 24 workers were killed near Auraiya when a speeding truck rammed into a stationery mini truck.
Adityanath has now directed that migrant labourers must be escorted to designated quarantine centres soon after their safe return to the state while also reiterating earlier instructions that they be provided Rs 1,000 and ration kits.
Till date, 20 lakh migrants have returned to the state where quarantine facilities have been reported to be inadequate or absent. While collecting their details, their skills are also being noted down to provide them with alternative employment. The CM had, earlier this week, said 90 lakh jobs would be created in the state’s medium, small and micro industries sector.
During the meeting, the officials were directed to expedite the process of giving jobs to migrant workers who return to the state.
The CM also directed regular inspections of all COVID-19 hospitals.
Officers from the forest and commercial tax department are to be roped in to help district officials deal with COVID-19. This is in addition to a senior officer of the rank of additional chief secretary/ principal secretary/secretary who will be nominated for each district and made to camp there for a week.
