29,415 People Died in Road Accidents During Lockdown, More Than 1 Cr Workers Migrated on Barefoot

Amaravati: More than 29,000 people including migrant workers died in 81,385 accidents during the Covid-19 lockdown. The lockdown resulted in migration of a large number of workers from destination states to the Home States.

The union government, for the first time revealed the death toll related to migrant workers and natural deaths in accidents during lockdown, on Tuesday in Lok Sabha.

VK Singh, Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, while reacting to a question raised by the MPs including Jasbir Sing Gill, Mohammed Jawed, DK Suresh and Dean Kuriakose stated that, "As per provisional available information 81,385 accidents occurred on the roads including National Highways during the period March-June 2020 with 29415 fatalities. However, This Ministry does not maintain separate data in respect of migrant workers who have died in road accidents during the lockdown".

As per the data compiled by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, more than 1.06 crores migrant workers, including those who travelled on foot during the lockdown, returned to their home-State, the Minister informed.

The Ministry of Home Affairs through its orders on April 29th and May 1st allowed movement of migrant workers to their native places by buses and Shramik special trains respectively, he acknowledged.