Migrant workers in Surat protested; Demanded their CM to send them back home

While the migrant workers in Mumbai staged a protest on Tuesday, demanding the government to arrange for their transit to their hometowns, a similar protest took place in Surat, Gujarat. The police said that thousands of migrant workers sat on the roads, protesting.

A police officer said, "These migrant workers want to go to their native places. We have asked them not to be impatient because a lockdown is in force at present." With 12 lakh migrant workers, this population has been under consistent pressure to fight the lockdown away from their homes.

"Since some of them were complaining about the food, we have called an NGO and immediately brought food packets for them. The situation is now under control," another police officer at the spot told reporters. NGOs are actively working with the police force to ensure that basic needs such as food and shelter are made available to them.

The textile workers from Surat had previously set some handicrafts on fire, defying the lockdown according to police reports. Eight people were arrested and then forced to retrieve indoors. The police force is having a difficult time controlling this population.

While speaking about migrant workers being sent back to their native places, a police officer told Economic Times, “If this can be done by the Chief Minister of UP, why can’t the same be done by our Chief Minister is the question they have and even though we are doing all we can to keep them fed and sheltered, they have only one demand, that is to return home.”