VIJAYAWADA: Over 100 migrant workers from West Bengal came out on the road near Amma Kalyana Mandapam junction demanding that the government provide aid for them. Most of them work as saree embroidery workers. They demanded that the government either provide ration to them or allow them to go back to their native places.
Narrating their plight, a worker Shaik Rahim, 35, said over 500 persons from several villages in West Bengal arrived in the city along with their families in January for work. As most of the works have stopped due to the ongoing lockdown, the workers are dependent on food being provided by NGOs. They urged the government to allow them to return to their native places.
“No official responded to our plight. We rely on rice and vegetables given by locals and organisations. We request the government to help us or let us go to our native places,” Rahim said. BJP Minority Morcha national secretary Shaik Baji said the migrant workers are surviving on donations. “They do not have ration cards due to which ward volunteers did not register their names in the list of beneficiaries. Collector A Md Imtiaz should provide support to them,” Shaik Baji said.