Amid lockdown, 225 migrant workers from Bihar arrive in Hyderabad looking for work

Hyderabad: Even as lakhs of migrant workers stranded in Telangana due to the lockdown are struggling to return home, a group of migrant workers from Bihar has arrived in Telangana in what seems to be a case of reverse migration. Around 225 of them arrived in Hyderabad on 8 May in a special Shramik Express train.

Minister for civil supplies Gangula Kamalakar, chairman of civil supplies corporation M. Srinivas Reddy, and chairman of Rytu Bandhu Palla Rajeshwar Reddy welcomed them and showered them with flowers as they alighted from the train.

The nodal officer for movement of stranded persons in Telangana, Mr Sandeep Kumar Sultania, Rangareddy district collector Amoy Kumar, and Cyberabad police commissioner V.C Sajjanar are monitoring their movement.

The migrant workers will be employed in rice mills located across the state. Their arrival at the harvesting time will boost work at these mills.

Meanwhile, minister Kamalakar said the state government is making arrangements for the safe travel of stranded migrant workers who are desperate to go home. But if anybody wishes to stay in the state and work, they will be taken care of, he said, adding many workers from different states have expressed willingness to come to Telangana and work. The state government is committed to the welfare and safety of migrant workers, who are our partners in development, he said.

After thermal screening and other health protocols, the migrant workers were provided food, water, masks, and were transported in special buses to Nalgonda, Miryalaguda, Karimnagar, Kamareddy, Jagtial, Peddapalli, Sultanabad, Mancherial, and Siddipet to start work in rice mills.