BHUBANESWAR: Registration for reverse migration has crossed 10 lakh and still counting. Nodal officers monitoring the preparation at panchayat level for accommodation of the returnees are flooded with calls about transport arrangements made for their return.
The nodal officers of Panchayatiraj department are having a tough time handling queries from people stranded in other States as they are not sure about the transport plan by the Government.
“We are receiving calls even during odd hours from people inquiring about the arrangements made for their return. As May 3, the day second phase lockdown ends, people waiting to return home are getting impatient. Our explanation that they will be informed in time about the mode of transportation is not satisfying them,” said an officer on condition on anonymity.
The fact remains that the officers do not know the exact plan of the Government as the number of people waiting outside the State to return is so huge.
“The State Government must be working out something with the Centre and Governments of respective States to deal with the situation. It will be clear when the modalities are finalised,” sources said. People who have registered their names for return are yet to receive any confirmation from Government.
Abhiram Majhi, a teacher of an NGO-run seasonal hostel for children of migrant labourers working in brick kilns of Tamil Nadu, has been making frantic calls to this paper to inquire about the arrangements made by the State Government for their return.
Staying at a far away place at Villivakam in Tiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu, Majhi and 150 labourers from Nuapada district are totally in dark about their return even after registering their name in a dedicated portal of the State Government.
Hoping that the State Government will arrange for their transportation, Mahji said they have not received any acknowledgment after successful registration of their names. They are ready with their Aadhar Card and other identification cards to prove their identity.
Calls received from Maharashtra said the State Government there have instructed the administration to ask the outsiders to leave to their home States immediately after the lifting of lockdown.Surendra Chatriya, a resident of Balangir, said he is receiving desperate calls from migrants working in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana about the transport arrangements made by the Government for their return.