Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Tuesday said migrant workers can't be sent at once to their home states and appealed to them to prefer staying back or wait till transport arrangements are made.
He told reporters after the state cabinet meeting that the migrant workers can't be sent in thousands and lakhs as this needs consent from their home states.
He assured all support to the workers who want to stay back but made it clear that the government will not stop those who want to go.
KCR, as Rao is popularly known, said he spoke to Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other states and they wanted Telangana to send the list of the workers who want to come so that they can make proper arrangements for their transport to their respective districts and villages.
He said 11 trains carrying migrant workers left from Telangana on Tuesday. Five of these trains departed for Bihar, two each for Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and one each for Jharkhand and Rajasthan. He said with this, the total number of trains departing from Telangana rose to 13.
"I wanted to send 40 trains but we need consent from those states," he said.
KCR said the trains carrying migrant workers to Bihar will come back with 20,000 to 25,000 workers from Bihar who work in rice mills in Telangana. A train which left early Tuesday to Bihar will be bringing 1,200 workers from there.
The Chief Minister said Telangana considers migrant workers as the partners in the state's development and hence it provided all facilities to 7.5 lakh workers from other states since the lockdown began.
He claimed that every family of migrant workers was provided 12 kg rice and Rs , at par with the local poor families. He said voluntary organisations and local leaders also took care of them.
"Those who want to stay back need not worry. If you have any problem dial 100 or approach a local official, MLA or minister," he said.
The Chief Minister told the migrant workers that they should prefer to stay back as the economic activity was resuming in the state and they could get the work. He pointed out that construction activity has re-started and other activities will also resume soon.
( With inputs from IANS )