Narmada Bachao Andolan’s Medha Patkar on Monday morning began a 24-hour fast along with other activists in Barwani district, demanding immediate transport for thousands of returning migrant workers stuck at Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh border. If the demands remain unmet, they plan to launch an indefinite fast.
Both on foot and vehicles, workers are returning home in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh via the Mumbai-Agra highway that passes through Sendhwa in Barwani district, the entry point to Madhya Pradesh.
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While the State government has claimed it was ensuring the smooth return of workers, just a few buses carrying labourers have left for different districts from the border. On Sunday, agitated workers, after being denied entry into the State, threw stones at policemen, injuring three.
“No one is caring for workers who contribute the most to the country’s economy. Without getting wages from their employees, they have set out homewards,” said Ms. Patkar, sitting on a dharna along the highway near Segwal in the district.
Additional Chief Secretary I.C.P. Keshari, State incharge for the control room, said Uttar Pradesh had refused to accept its incoming workers. "So, how can we let them pass through Madhya Pradesh? However, intra-State transport of workers is smooth as we are plying more than 100 buses," he said.
"On our request, Gujarat has agreed not to send workers for now," said Akash Tripathi, Indore Divisional Commissioner. "Along Barwani, there are workers in around 100 four-wheelers wanting to travel to Uttar Pradesh. We are asking them to return. Only those on two wheelers and on foot can pass."
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This was like allowing workers to die, she said. “In such heat, thousands of workers are walking on the highway. They are desperate to return home, even willing to pay for the transport. But the government is still not decisive. It feels if people are willing to walk, let them walk.”
‘Lack of coordination’
Ms. Patkar pointed to the lack of coordination between Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh governments in ensuring the smooth passage of workers. “Even the Opposition party in Madhya Pradesh is silent. There is no governance and no politics,” she said.
Meanwhile, the industrial activity was at its peak, she claimed. “They are allowing trucks carrying raw materials to pass, but not humans.” Even those reaching borders in hired vehicles are not being allowed to pass, she alleged. “There is no political will, and the federal structure is collapsing.”
M.D. Choubey, State president of the Kendriya Manav Adhikar Suraksha Sangathan, a human rights group, who sat on the dharna with Ms. Patkar, claimed long videoconferences in the afternoon prevented district officials from reaching a decision locally. “Moreover, the officials responsible for arranging transport from Maharashtra are not taking calls,” he said.
“The government should make stranded workers travel in empty trucks plying on the highway,” he said. On April 30, a worker died near Sendhwa while cycling back home to Uttar Pradesh from Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday said on Twitter, “You will be surprised to know so far we have brought back more than 60,000 workers of the State to their homes by ensuring their complete care. Not only this, we have also sent our guest workers to their States with respect.”
