Aaditya Thackeray blames Centre for protest by migrant workers

After migrant workers in Mumbai protested near Bandra railway station and sought a road map to facilitate their journey back to their native places, Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray, in series of tweets, blamed the central govt for the protest.

Mumbai: Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday blamed the Centre for the protest by hundreds of migrant workers near Bandra railway station here and sought a road map to facilitate their journey back to their native places.

Hundreds of migrant workers who earn daily wages in Mumbai came out on road on Tuesday afternoon demanding transport arrangements to go back to their native places. The protest took place hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an extension of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown till May 3.

In a series of tweets, Thackeray said, "The current situation in Bandra, now dispersed or even the rioting in Surat is a result of the union government not being able to take a call on arranging a way back home migrant labour."

"They don't want food or shelter, they want to go back home," Thackeray said.

He felt a mutual road map drawn up with the Union government will help migrant labourers travel from one state to another during the lockdown period and reach their homes.

Time and again this issue has been raised with the Centre, he said.

Thackeray said feedback from all migrant labour camps is similar - that these workers want to go back to their native places.

"Many are refusing to eat or stay in these camps," he said.

Currently, more than six lakh people are housed in various shelter camps across Maharashtra, he said.

PTI