india

Updated: Apr 16, 2020 19:41 IST

On the second day of the extended nationwide lockdown, the cabinet secretary asked all states to make adequate arrangements for migrant workers even as the home ministry closely monitored lockdown violations and attacks on health workers.

Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba asked all state chief secretaries on Thursday to ensure adequate arrangements are put in place for the safety, shelter and food security of migrant workers and stranded people.

The top bureaucrat at the Centre also asked states to appoint district collectors as nodal officers responsible for coordinating arrangements for migrant workers. “Each camp (for migrants) should be put [under the] charge of a senior officer,” Gauba directed.

The Supreme Court last week ordered that adequate medical facilities and proper arrangements for food, clean drinking water and sanitation should be ensured for migrant workers at relief camps across the country.

Following this directive, the home ministry had asked all states to put in place welfare measures for migrant workers while issuing detailed guidelines.

A senior government official, who didn’t wish to be named, said once certain manufacturing and other business activities in rural areas resume from April 20, some migrant workers, who were heading home, might stay back and join their work.

The home ministry, meanwhile, said it is monitoring on a daily basis all violations of lockdown measures, including congregation of people and opening of shops and establishments.

It said incidents of violence against health workers engaged in surveillance and quarantine measures are also being ascertained.

State police forces have already been asked several times to act against the violators under the Disaster Management Act. The home ministry has also warned action will be taken under the act against officers found responsible for violations.