-Scroll.in The migrant exodus will undoubtedly hurt the economy. But that is no excuse for forced labour. The Indian government’s policies towards its vulnerable migrant worker population were already a mess. This week, Karnataka made it worse. The Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state decided to cancel Trains that would allow working-class people from other states to return to their homes five weeks after a national lockdown to combat Covid-19 left them stranded, often without...

-NDTV Karnataka Lockdown: The Trains to ferry migrants were started last week after much back and forth between the Centre and the states amid a countrywide exodus of labourers. Bengaluru: Special Trains from Karnataka taking home thousands of migrants stranded by the coronavirus lockdown have been cancelled by the BS Yediyurappa government, which says workers are needed for construction activities that have resumed in the state. The BJP government is forcing the...

-The Hindu Several incidents of migrants walking on roads despite special Trains facility Ahmedabad: Chaos resulting from lack of preparations continues to mark the exodus of the migrant labourers from the hubs in Gujarat. On Sunday also, several incidents of migrants walking on roads were reported despite special Trains were being arranged to their native places. On Saturday, several incidents of clashes between the migrants and the police were reported from inter-State checkposts...

-TheNewsMinute.com Migrant workers in many parts of the country are being made to pay Rs 1000 to Rs 1400 per head to return home. It’s the season for politics over train tickets, even as migrant workers across the country are confused, and struggling to reach home. The BJP on Monday claimed that the Indian Railways has subsidised 85% of ticket fare for special Trains being run to transport migrant workers. It’s only...

-Scroll.in Gestures should not come at the cost of real action. When Narendra Modi announced India’s harsh lockdown starting from March 25 to combat the spread the coronavirus, migrant workers were the worst affected group. Stranded in cities without wages or access to food, hundreds of thousands of people started walking, cycling and smuggling themselves in container trucks and cement mixers to try to get home – a journey that was sometimes...