With daily wagers severely affected due to the prevailing bandh-like situation in the wake of the outbreak of novel coronavirus, opposition parties in Assam and Tripura asked the ruling BJP in the two states to give monetary relief to this affected class of people.Leader of the Opposition and Assam Congress leader Debabrata Saikia urged Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to extend financial aid to small traders and wage labourers, including tea garden workers.
In Tripura, the CPI-M urged the Biplab Kumar Deb government to provide a one-time financial assistance of `5,000 each and free ration to the daily wage labourers and the poor for one month. In Uttarakhand, many migrant workers have to walk between 90-150 kilometers to reach their homes from Haldwani, Bageshwar and other other parts of Uttarakhand to Bareilly, Moradabad and Pilibhit among few. Rakesh, Mohammad Umar and Jitendra have stacked up their belongings, water, a few chapatis, onion, pickle and salt to feed themselves while they walk towards home.
Rajesh Kumar, a daily wager from Bahedi area of Bareilly district of neighboring Uttar Pradesh said, “We chose to walk to our homes as it is better than remaining here and starving to death. The outbreak and lockdown has snatched away our livelihood.” Daily wagers from Bareilly and other parts of western Uttar Pradesh are returning to their homes on foot due to lockdown and non-availability of any affordable transport, public or private. Meanwhile, Uttarakhand state government has decided to provide `1000 financial help to workers.