BELAGAVI: The exodus of migrant workers from Maharashtra and Goa to Karnataka continues despite the Union government's directives to state governments to prevent such movement until the end of the nationwide lockdown over the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Monday, hundreds of migrant workers entered Belagavi district from Maharashtra in tractors. All of them left for their villages in Vijayapura district and Athani taluk after they were not given shelter or food by the local authorities in Athani taluk.
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A migrant labourer from Athani taluk, Shivanand Sulake, who came in a tractor with 40 to 50 workers from Shirol in Maharashtra state on Monday said, "We were not given any kind of facility to stay in Maharashtra ever since the lockdown started. None of us were given health care facilities either. When we reached the border to enter Karnataka, we were stopped but somehow we managed to cross the border in our tractor. Unfortunately, the local authorities neither gave us any shelter or food here in Athani too. All of us were given only one banana each," he said.
For the past four days, many such workers have been crossing the border by taking odd routes through rural areas and entering Karnataka in Athani taluk, sources said, adding that several hundreds of migrant workers were found walking from parts of Maharashtra to Vijayapura and Kalaburgi district after not getting shelter.
The migrant workers appealed to the local administration to house them in community halls until the end of the lockdown. Another migrant worker, Sadashiv Surke, says workers who migrated from Maharashtra were assured of shelter in Athani taluk but it was not given. "The government should house all of us in some facility here as the people in our villages in Vijayapura and Athani taluk will not allow us to enter inside fearful of COVID-19. We will be deep trouble if we are denied facilities here," he added.
Chairman of Vimochana, a social organisation, and noted social activist B L Patil from Athani said, "Every state government has hundreds of crores in its exchequer collected under the Building Workers Welfare Act and Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act introduced in 1996. Under Section 3 of this act, about 0.5 per cent of the project cost is being collected from the contractor even before he started any civil construction works in the country. And such amount paid by the contractors is available in massive scale with every state government. As per rules, this money as per the Act can't be utilised for any other purpose and strictly must be used only for the welfare of labourers/vulnerable labourers and their rehabilitation only."
Despite having huge funds, the governments neglected migrant labourers, thousands of whom are walking a long distance without any facility and care at this moment of crisis, he said, blaming them for the pathetic situation of the workers.
Meanwhile, hundreds of workers employed in Bengaluru region arrived in Belagavi city on Sunday in search of shelter and food. A large number of them who all hail from Rajasthan are housed in a government hostel at Nehru Nagar in Belagavi. The workers are upset with the food being served to them and have demanded chapatis and rotis instead of the rice and dal being served to them. As chapati and roti has been their staple food, most of the migrant labourers refused to eat rice. However, the local administration has promised to serve the food of their choice from Monday.
However, many of them are urging the local authorities to make arrangements to send them to Rajasthan immediately. Sources in the district administration said the migrant workers would be housed in the hostel until the lockdown ends. All facilities will be extended to them to ensure that they lived here comfortably, sources added.
According to sources, a group of migrant labourers which crossed the Maharashtra border and entered Athani on Sunday continued to walk towards Vijayapura district.