Government need to ensure safety of migrant workers immediately

People from rural areas migrate with the hope that there will be better employment opportunities as well as better standard of living in urban areas.

But, people who migrate to cities face many problems like housing and sanitation. Mainly in the wake lockdown their lives have became vulnerable.

The Indian government is facing an extraordinary challenge to protect the workers as well as to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country.

Amid the growing concern of the spread of virus, many migrant workers make the journey to their villages on foot. Indian authorities need to urgently adopt measures to protect the country's poorest people and migrant workers.

Government has to ensure that all of them have access to food and health care. On March 26, the central government announced a relief package of 3 lakh crore to provide free food for the migrant workers and cash transfers to the poor and vulnerable population.

The government should take urgent steps to get stranded migrant workers to safety. State government should immediately set up shelters for those at need and take measures to ensure social distancing.

— Kusuma Swapna