Coronavirus pandemic: Three BJP-ruled states relax labour laws; migrant workers continue with their risky journeys back home  

Team Suno Neta Saturday 9th of May 2020 11:14 PM
(0) (0)

New Delhi: Three Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states relaxed their labour laws considerably to “kickstart economic activities” and “attract foreign companies” following the long nationwide lockdown imposed to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, Covid-19.

The Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh governments have said they were diluting the labour laws in their states to attract business as well as make them run with lesser obstacles.

On Friday, the Vijay Rupani-led Gujarat government said new industries that are set up in the state would not be bound by labour laws for the initial 1,200 days of their establishment.

Madhya Pradesh’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan government has already issued an ordinance to amend two state labour laws. Also, most restrictions by the way of labour laws are being waived for the first 1,000 days for new ventures. Smaller employers can now lay off workers more easily than before.

UP’s Yogi Adityanath government has said it will bring an ordinance to freez the enforcement of central labour laws on wage hikes, working hours and worker welfare for three years to attract companies for setting up factories and other business establishments in the state.

Migrant workers continue to make perilous trips back home

Migrant workers working in far-off cities and industrial zones from their native places continue to embark on high-risk trips back home after being stranded without money and food due to the lockdown. This comes even as 16 migrant workers walking to their native places in Madhya Pradesh from Maharashtra were run over by a goods train, on Friday.

Reports from several cities and highways across the country said tens of thousands of migrant labourers continue to march towards their home destinations or are travelling in inhuman conditions on trucks and trailers. In Mangalore, two trucks, which were carrying 140 migrant labourers in cramped-up conditions to UP’s Bulandshahr, was intercepted, not very far where they stayed. Bulandshahr is over 2,200km from Mangalore. A few days ago, eighteen migrant workers were found travelling inside a cement mixer in Madhya Pradesh. They were travelling from Maharashtra to Uttar Pradesh and were stopped at MP’s Ujjain-Indore border.

Meanwhile, over 1 lakh migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh stranded in different parts of the country have returned to the state.

A senior state official told reporters that another 98 trains will reach the state on Sunday and Monday. He also said talks are on to allow 15 to 20 more.

Coronavirus cases cross 62,000 in India, 4 million globally 

The number of Covid-19 cases in India has crossed 62,000 and the death toll from the disease has crossed 2,100, on Saturday. The country saw 3,113 fresh cases on the day along with 116 new deaths.

Across the world, the number of coronavirus cases has now crossed 4 million and the death toll from the disease is almost 280,000.

Latest global coronavirus stats from Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering

Latest coronavirus India stats:

  • Confirmed: 62,808
  • Deaths: 2,101
  • Recovered: 19,301

Latest worldwide coronavirus stats:

  • Confirmed: 4,084,111
  • Deaths: 279,458
  • Recovered: 1,426,503

Top 5 countries with coronavirus infections:

  • United States: 1,341,794
  • Spain: 262,783
  • Italy: 218,268
  • United Kingdom: 215,260
  • Russia: 198,676

Top 5 countries with coronavirus deaths are:

  • United States: 79,895
  • United Kingdom: 31,587
  • Italy: 30,395
  • Spain: 26,478
  • France: 26,310

[Source: Worldometer]

[This story was last updated at 3am on May 10, 2020.]


 
 

Related

 
 

Leave Your Response