NEW DELHI: As migrant workers struggle in the cascading chaos of the countrywide lockdown, chief ministers and politicians are reaching out to each other on social media seeking help for one state’s migrants stranded in another.

In a post on Facebook , Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has marked chief ministers across the country promising to bear the cost of all help that other states extend to people from Odisha stuck in various states. “...Odisha will bear all the cost needed for their safe keeping who could be pilgrims, student, workers or professionals… ” he said. Patnaik added that he has put in place a monitoring team to ensure all migrants in Odisha from other states will be helped with funds from the CM’s relief fund.

Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, too, responding to a video message from his state’s people struggling in Delhi, requested Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal help for the crowds of migrants cooped up in small rooms, worried sick that they have no ration or money to survive in the city. Kejriwal responded to Soren within hours, saying local officials have been instructed to ensure two meals a day for the men concerned.

Meanwhile, Bihar’s Tejashwi Yadav tweeted to Punjab CM Amarinder Singh about 250 daily wagers from Champaran in Chandigarh complete with relevant addresses. Yadav wrote that they had run out of ration for two days now. He soon tweeted a message of gratitude for Singh’s immediate help; officials in Punjab had reached the mazdoors and come to their aid.

Singh in turn thanked his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray for taking care of Punjabi pilgrims stuck in Nanded.

