THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Confusion prevails after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) came out with an order stating that only the movement of stranded persons who had moved out of their houses just before the lockdown for various purposes are allowed to come back to their native places.
The new order threw the state government plans to repatriate around four lakh migrant labours to their home state into complete disarray.
Labour Minister T P Ramakrishnan’s office told TNIE, “We cannot take a decision solely on the basis of the new order. A top-level committee chaired by chief minister and which includes the chief secretary among others after consulting experts will take a final call in this regard at its meeting on Monday.”
The new order will stall the process to return migrants to their home states. Already, the state government saw off as many 12,000 migrants to Odisha, Jharkhand, and Bihar after securing no-objection certificate from these states following the MHA order on May 1. With this, the government will have to stall the entire exercise.
Benoy Peter, executive director, Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development and Centre for Development Studies, said “It seems those who moved out of the state on the back of the earlier MHA order can get back home. But the new order has virtually put a full stop to the government’s efforts to repatriate them as it has been shelling out a substantial amount to arrange food and accommodation for around 3.7 lakh migrants put up in relief camps,” he said.