India govt admits over one crore migrants went back home on foot during March-June 2020 lockdown

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Photo- The Tricontinantal

By SAT News Desk

MELBOURNE, September 23, 2020: The cat is out of the bag. There has been lots of media and other speculation as to how many laborers went back home in India from different states to their home states when the lockout was abruptly announced by the PM with just to start within four hours in March 2020. The inhuman forced lockout disrupted life for the laborers and businesses as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of India.

Now the Indian government has admitted the numbers. In a written reply India’s Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways V K Singh told Lok Sabha on 22 September 2020, reports the PTI, the country’s leading news agency. The Minister admitted more than 1.06 crore migrant workers, including those who traveled on foot during the lockdown, returned to their home states.

The Indian Express (September 22, 2020) quotes PTI as saying, ” As per provisional available information, 81,385 accidents occurred on the roads (including national highways) during the period March-June 2020 with 29,415 fatalities, he informed Parliament.”

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This migration of humans during the pandemic is said to be the biggest ever after the migrations when British India attained independence on 14/15 August 1947, leading to widespread communal violence with massive deaths and disappearances.

The massive migration and fatalities on roads (and national highways) were covered by the Indian and international media and remains a contentious issue in India.

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Neeraj Nanda

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