The Centre on Sunday asked all states and Union Territories to take welfare measures, including provision of food, shelter, medicine, mobile and video call facilities and counselling, for migrants living in shelter homes across the country amid a nationwide lockdown to combat Covid-19, PTI reported. The Ministry of Home Affairs asked the states and Union Territories to follow the directions of the Supreme Court in the matter.

Last week, the Supreme Court had said that adequate medical facilities, clean water, food and sanitation must be provided to migrant workers living in relief camps. It added that trained counsellors or community leaders belonging to all faiths should visit the relief camps, to address any problems the migrants may be facing. The court had also noted that the police and other authorities should understand the fear and anxiety of the migrants.

The Ministry of Home Affairs also asked states and Union Territories to follow the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s order that migrants be helped to deal with psycho-social problems. The health ministry had said the migrants are less familiar in their new environment in which they temporarily live, and are prone to various social, psychological and emotional trauma.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on March 24 declared that a 21-day nationwide lockdown would begin from the following day, to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Following this announcement, tens of thousands of migrant labourers attempted to return to their home towns on foot. However, fearing mass transmission of Covid-19, the Centre ordered states to seal the borders.

Over the past few days, there have been reports of restlessness, protests and violence by migrants dissatisfied with their living conditions in shelter camps, or wanting to return home.

On April 10, hundreds of workers employed in the textile industry of Surat in Gujarat poured out on the streets to demand that the government restore transport and allow them to go back to their villages. There was violence, following which the police arrested 80 labourers.

Migrant labourers allegedly set three shelter homes in New Delhi’s Kashmere Gate on fire on April 11, after an argument with the staff over food. The police said the staff beat up the workers the previous day, after which four labourers jumped into the Yamuna river, and one of them drowned.