Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday said calling people “migrant workers” detaches them from the idea of nationality, reported ...
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday said calling people “migrant workers” detaches them from the idea of nationality, reported ANI. He added that labourers who have returned to Bihar need not leave again as employment will be generated for them in the state.
“People going from one state to the other are being called ‘pravasi’ [migrant],” he said. “Why? This is one country, there is one nationality. A person going from one place to the other in the country isn’t a migrant. If they go outside the country, then they are.”
Kumar’s comments came at a time when millions of migrant workers in India were left jobless by the coronavirus-induced lockdown imposed on March 25. The Centre began arranging special trains only on May 1, while bus services started from April 20 to take migrants home. Over 80% of the returnees are from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
However, before the Centre made some travel arrangements, many migrants were forced to make gruelling and dangerous trips back to their hometowns as public transport was not running during the lockdown. At least 170 workers have been killed in accidents on the roads or train tracks. Many others died from the exhaustion of walking in the scorching heat. Nearly 80 migrant workers died of starvation...
