Migrant worker cycles from Maharashtra to UP; dies mid-way

A migrant worker was cycling back to his hometown in Uttar Pradesh from Maharashtra, but died midway on Friday.

He started his journey from Bhiwandi, but was found in an unconscious state in Madhya Pradesh`s Barwani town."He was found in an unconscious state and was taken to a hospital. He passed away during the treatment. The postmortem report is awaited," said G Dhangar, SDM.

A lot of migrant workers have been stranded in different states due to the nationwide lockdown. However, some have tried to walk and cycle back to their hometowns, but not all of them have been successful.

Some states have requested the central government to start special trains to bring back the stranded workers and students to their home states.As the lockdown has been extended for a second time, the central government has accepted the request and has started special trains for these workers.

State governments are also compiling data on the number of stranded migrant workers, and the states that they are stranded in. Some states, like Punjab, have also decided to increase the number of relief packages, so that nobody stays hungry in these tough times.

"Total 1,09,000 labourers and other people who are stranded in other states contacted us through government helpline number, social media and other mediums till now. The number of stranded people will increase as we are receiving request daily. But we cannot estimate how many of them will return because many people from our state are working and living elsewhere. We are doing an assessment and arrangements are being made to bring all of them to Chhattisgarh," saidSonmani Borah, Secretary, Labour Department, Chhattisgarh.

Borah also assured that the workers will be properly screened and quarantined after they return to the state.