‘We don’t need trains, just let us walk home’

‘We don’t need trains, just let us walk home’

Stranded workers say they don’t want to wait in shelters till they get a train or be quarantined once they get home

10/05/2020, JATIN ANAND, ,GREATER NOIDA

Migrant workers from U.P. and Bihar wait at the Yamuna E-way Zero Point in Greater Noida on Saturday. Jatin Anand

It may have abated for a while but the exodus of migrant workers from across the National Capital Region on Day 69 of the national lockdown is not only still going on but is seemingly underlined by more desperation than before.

A week after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) allowed the movement of stranded individuals, especially migrant workers, to their home States on interState buses or special trains, visuals and news of others like them had renewed their hope before they realised there is more than one catch.

For groups of on-foot migrant workers, the possibly endless wait for more passengers headed their way on one hand and the certainty of two weeks’ quarantine on the other side of their journey in lieu merely of “free travel” arrangements by governments, they complain, is too steep a price to pay.

Even facing and contending with police batons on the way did not matter, they said, as long as they were able to inch as close to home as possible. “It is better if they just put us in jail and be done with it,” complained Om Prakash, a resident of Faizabad who undertook a nine-hour journey, mostly on foot, from Ballabhgarh in Haryana before landing up below the Yamuna Expressway.

“The police have told us that they will take us to a shelter camp where we will be required to stay till the administration is able to find more people headed along our route. Some of our relatives who have recently been able to make it home have told me that we will need to stay in quarantine for 14 days in a school outside the village. Are we supposed to spend our lives waiting?” he demanded.

One from a group of nine former factory workers from Ballabhgarh and Faridabad headed to their hometowns in Lucknow, Agra and Faizabad among others, Mr. Prakash said he and the others began their journey from Haryana at 3 a.m. on Saturday.

Prem Kumar, who was employed as a security guard at a wardrobe manufacturing unit, said the first installment of the national lockdown was announced on the eve of his first day at work. “The supervisor took care of us for as long as possible; for over two months. Then we thought we would try and make our way home. We tried to register ourselves on the U.P. government’s online portal but couldn’t. So we decided to start walking and get as close as we could on our own,” he said.

Seeing the group of nine from Uttar Pradesh waiting below the elevated highway encouraged close to two dozen people from Bihar, mainly construction workers, to position themselves on the other side of the street from them.

After a four-hour-long wait for food and arrangements for travel which they had hoped for, however, the gradually swelling number of migrant workers could only procure disappointment before setting out on foot for their destinations hundreds, and in the cases of some over a thousand, kilometres away.

“Did you hear about what happened in Nanded? The workers who were run over by the train? Why were they not on that train instead of below it? I am even ready for that kind of death if it happens near home. At least people will remember and talk about me. That will not happen if I stay here,” said Prabhas Kumar, a construction worker who wanted to travel to Saharsa in Bihar.

“We don’t need special trains; even tractors will do. If not tractors, just let us walk. We just want to go home,” he said.

JNU asks students to return by end of June

JNU asks students to return by end of June

Exams by July 31; next semester from August 1

10/05/2020, STAFF REPORTER,NEW DELHI

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Saturday announced that students are expected to return to the campus between June 25-30 to complete their courses and that examinations will be conducted by July 31.

In a statement, JNU Vice-Chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar said, “The next semester for continuing students will start from August 1. Even if the examination results are not ready by July 31, students will have the opportunity to provisionally register and move on to the next semester.”

The administration said that the registration process for the monsoon semester will be online.

“The entire monsoon semester registration process will be completely online, making it easy for the students to register even from their homes. We have made sure that research scholars who have to submit their dissertations or theses, do not face any difficulty as the deadline for submission is shifted to December 31,” the statement read.

The varsity added that the academic calendar announced was tentative.

States should decide on exit plan: Baghel

States should decide on exit plan: Baghel

Chhattisgarh CM writes to Modi

10/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

States should have the power to decide on the strategy to come out of the lockdown, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He has argued against the centralisation of the fight against COVID-19, saying the States should have been empowered to demarcate containment zones and decide on which economic activities to start and how.

Practical difficulties

In his May 8 letter, Mr. Baghel highlighted the difficulties in the demarcation of red zones by the Union government. What if fresh cases were detected in a green zone which had already been opened up for basic economic activities, after the Centre announced the demarcation of zones based on the number of cases, he asked. “If a zone which had been opened up is again declared a red zone, whatever little economic activities that had restarted here will have to be shut down again. If an area that has been opened up after a long wait has to be closed down once again, we will only create a situation of unrest and uncertainty,” he said.

“To end all these uncertainties, it is essential that while observing all necessary precautions we slowly unroll our usual economic activities. And it would only be appropriate that the State governments are given the full rights to operate the economic activities,” he said.

TNSTC Coimbatore Division to operate 1,326 buses from May 18

TNSTC Coimbatore Division to operate 1,326 buses from May 18

10/05/2020, STAFF REPORTER

The Coimbatore Division of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) has said that 1,326 buses are to be operated in four zones from May 18, when the COVID-19 lockdown ends.

According to a release, 50 % of the buses will be operated with 50 % capacity following an order from the State government.

Of the 1,326 buses, 539 are for Coimbatore Zone, 173 for Udhagamandalam Zone, 334 buses for Erode Zone and 280 for Tiruppur Zone.

As part of the COVID-19 prevention measures, the buses will be disinfected every day.

The drivers and conductors will wear masks and gloves and their body temperatures will be checked by TNSTC officials. The conductors will also provide hand sanitisers to passengers inside the buses.

The public will be allowed to enter these buses only if they wear masks. They must board the buses from the rear entrance and exit through the front. At bus stops and inside the buses, they should maintain a distance of six feet between each other to ensure physical distancing, the release said.

Keep used masks for 72 hours: TNPCB

Keep used masks for 72 hours: TNPCB

‘Biomedical waste should be collected separately in yellow bags’

10/05/2020, STAFF REPORTER

Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has urged people to keep the used masks and gloves for a minimum of 72 hours in a bag and dispose it.

In a press release, it said that used masks and gloves generated from home quarantine or other households should be kept in paper bag for a minimum of 72 hours prior to disposal of the same as general waste.

It also asked the people to cut the masks before disposing it so that reuse could be prevented.

The release said that biomedical waste generated from quarantine centres or camps should be collected separately in yellow coloured bags provided by urban local bodies.

The bags should be handed over to the authorised waste collection workers at doorsteps engaged by local bodies, the press release added.

MSMEs likely to start functioning from Monday

MSMEs likely to start functioning from Monday

10/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Several micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) in Coimbatore Corporation limits are expected to start operations on Monday.

“The order issued by the State Government on Saturday says all private enterprises in the State can function from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. This means industries too can operate one shift,” said J. James, president of Tamil Nadu Association of Cottage and Tiny Enterprises.

“We have circulated the order to all our members so that they can prepare to start operating the units from Monday,” he said.

However, he was apprehensive that the units may not be able to operate for long as they may face challenges in getting orders, payments, etc. “We will know the real situation only after 10 days,” he said.

Several MSME unit owners have read the order to mean that industries can operate in the Corporation limits too.

This is only a short period of one week before the lockdown is lifted. The actual economic activity will take off only from May 18, said another small-scale unit owner. The MSMEs are waiting for a support package from the Central Government so that they can start operations full-fledged. The State Government is also expected to come out with lockdown exit strategies next week, he said.

Representatives of trade unions here met the District Collector on Friday and appealed to him to reopen the industries so that workers can return to work. Some of the unions also said the NTC mills should pay its workers’ wages for April.

Administration clarifies on list of shops that can be opened

Administration clarifies on list of shops that can be opened

10/05/2020, STAFF REPORTER

With confusion prevailing over opening of shops, the district administration has issued clarification and released list of shops that can be opened and list of shops that are restricted from opening.

Collector C. Kathiravan in a press release said that lockdown is extended till May 17 and following are the list of shops that are permitted to function: shops selling hardware, cement, sports materials, automobile, books shops, sanitaryware, electronic sales shops, mobile phones, computers, household items, electric motor repair shop, spectacles sales shop, already permitted grocery, pharmaceuticals, hotels (only parcels), studio, sweet stall and bakery, printing press, two-wheeler and four-wheeler service centre and meat stalls that were permitted to sell only in packs.

The release said that owners and workers of shops that were permitted to function should wear mask and they should ensure personal distancing among customers and insist they wear mask. If customers were not wearing mask, action will be taken against the shop owner, the release said. Also, sanitizer and soap should be kept at the shop entrance for the customers, the release added.

Shops that were not allowed to function were air conditioned shops, jewellery shops, all types of textile showrooms and textile market, tea and beverages shops, saloon, spa, beauty parlour, departmental stores, market complexes, fitness centres, sports ground, swimming pool, theatres, clubs, lodges, resorts, bar, museum, park, tourist spots and showrooms selling two-wheelers and four-wheelers.