MUMBAI: After Yogi Adityanath claimed workers from his state were ill-treated in Maharashtra, Maha Vikas Aghadi ministers went all out against the Uttar Pradesh chief minister saying he could not put entire blame on others. Maharashtra minister Balasaheb Thorat said that the Uttar Pradesh government and its CM had failed to provide jobs and other facilities to migrant workers which resulted in them having no option but to come to Maharashtra.
“If the mother refuses to take care of the child, then the child naturally goes to his/her aunt for assistance. The Maharashtra government took proper care of migrants and their families. We offered food and shelter during lockdown. We even paid for their travel back home,” Thorat said.
Another minister of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, Eknath Shinde said that they are ready to correct their errors if any. “We are here to rectify our mistakes. But the UP government cannot blame us for their own failure to protect their own peoples’ interest and provide them jobs,” Shinde said.
A day earlier, Adityanath had stated that states will have to seek permission from his government if they want UP’s migrant workers back. Raj Thackeray, MNS chief, responded by saying, “I wish to tell them that if workers want to come back to work here, then they have to seek the Maharashtra government’s permissions. The government needs to take such things seriously. The registration of migrant workers should be made compulsory. They should submit their application along with photographs and only then should they be allowed to work here,” Thackeray said.
The Maharashtra government had already pitched for ‘the son of the soil’ agenda and asked industries to offer employment to local people. State industries minister Subhash Desai said, “80% jobs will be reserved for locals and stringent action will be taken against errant firms.”