The district administrations in Dharwad and Gadag on Saturday made arrangements to ferry migrant workers to Bengaluru and Belagavi railway stations so as to enable them to catch trains to their native places.
As many as 69 migrant workers from Jharkhand who were working in various hotels and sweet-making outlets in Hubballi-Dharwad left for Bengaluru to catch a Shramik Special train from the city on Saturday.
The Dharwad district administration made arrangements for ferrying them to Bengaluru in three NWKRTC buses. Before the buses left for Bengaluru from the new bus station in Hubballi, the migrant workers were given breakfast along with masks and sanitisers.
N.R. Purushottam, Joint Director of Social Welfare Department, said that they were sent in three buses so as to abide by social distancing norms. “In each bus, there was a nodal officer and they were provided lunch and water. These nodal officers will coordinate with the railway officials to help them [the labourers] board the Shramik Special to Jharkhand,” he said. Earlier, senior officials of NWKRTC and the Labour Department reviewed the arrangements.
38 workers in Gadag
In Gadag, 38 migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, who were stranded in various taluks, were sent in two buses to the Belagavi railway station. Earlier at the Zilladalita Bhavan, a health check-up of the workers was done.
Deputy Commissioner M.G. Hiremath emphasised the need for them to maintain social distancing and take precautionary measures. He asked them to immediately undergo medical tests in case they sense symptoms of COVID-19 on their return to their native places. Additional Deputy Commissioner Satishkumar M. and District Labour Officer Sudha Garag were present.
