In a bid to ease the hardships that migrant workers from Bihar are facing due to the nationwide lockdown, the NDA government under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has provided an assistance of Rs 1,000 each to 6,75,000 each to the stranded workers. Lakhs of labourers are stranded in different states due to suspension of rail and road traffic that was necessitated by the coronavirus outbreak. With the lockdown bringing all economic activities to a grinding halt, the labourers were left in a precarious situation with no means to either return home or earn a living.
To help those stranded in other states, the Nitish Kumar government has transferred Rs 1,000 each into the bank accounts of 6.75 workers. As oer officials, the process of providing the monetary assistance will continue as over 13 lakh applications have been received and more are in the process of filing them.
The decision was taken in order to provide relief to labourers as they are left with no option but to stay wherever they are due to the sweeping lockdown in view of the coronavirus outbreak. Many had undertaken journeys from big cities to their homes in the absence of any transportation facilities, forcing the district administration and state governments to prevent them from travelling and provide them shelter and food wherever they are.
The entire exercise is being monitored at the highest level. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that he is supervising and reviewing the situation regularly on how to help those stranded in other states.
Over 13.26 lakh applications have been received by such workers who are stranded in other states so far and more applications from the needy are still being received, officials said. The state authorities are acting swiftly to provide them financial and other relief, they added.
Along with providing financial assistance to the people, the state government is also arranging food for labourers. Alone in Delhi, the Nitish Kumar government is providing food at 10 different locations twice a day for such workers. A dedicated team from the Bihar Bhawan in Delhi is monitoring the distribution of food and essential items.
Meanwhile, JD(U) leader and state mnister Sanjay Kumar Jha said that CM Kumar has ordered to reach out to those whithout ration card and provide them help.
“Along with reaching out to these thousands of our people living outside Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has instructed to initiate the process to reach out to those without ration card so that necessary funds can be provided to them,” he tweeted.
The Bihar government is also providing all families holding ration cards in the state assistance of Rs 1,000 each. The money is being transferred into their respective accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system. Meanwhile, the state on Thursday reported two more positive coronavirus cases, raising the total number of cases in Bihar to 72. The eastern state has reported one casualty so far.
