india

Updated: Apr 25, 2020 20:07 IST

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday reiterated and pushed for a “strategy” for smooth movement of migrant workers stranded across the country due to nationwide lockdown.

The lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus disease is in place till May 3.

“In fight against Covid-19, whole nation stands united. The government of India should show the same unity when it comes to issuing guidelines for the states irrespective of the party the party lineage of ruling parties in the states,” he tweeted ahead of the scheduled video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.

“Since day-one, I have been saying a strategy must be devised for smooth movement of migrant workers stranded across the country, but unfortunately there is no clarity on the same,” said Gehlot.

The CM pushed for a common policy for all states on the issue.

“Planned strategy with unified command structure of communication to the states can be more fruitful instead of un-officially communicating to different states by different officers such as Ministry of Home Affairs and Cabinet secretariat to facilitate movement of students and migrant workers - this is not a comprehensive solution for the migrant problem we are facing,” Gehlot tweeted.

The Rajasthan CM said only meticulously planned strategy with proper mode of commuting such as special trains to be run by the Centre will solve the problem.

On Friday, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath gave officials 14 days to bring the migrant workers back home. Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh government sent buses to bring back students stuck in the coaching hub of Rajasthan’s Kota.

The Maharashtra deputy chief minster Ajit Pawar too wrote to railway minister Piyush Goyal this week, seeking special trains to help migrant workers return home.

The Rajasthan chief minister, speaking to Hindustan Times earlier, said the Centre should have given at least five days to the migrant workers and others to go back to their homes like it had allowed the flights before enforcing the restrictions.

He said home minister Amit Shah has assured him that the Centre will soon take a call on the issue.

The Opposition parties, led by the Congress, had expressed concerns over the plight of migrant workers who were forced to take a long walk back to their villages due to the nationwide lockdown enforced to contain the coronavirus pandemic.