A study conducted by Harvard University has praised the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh (UP) in handling the massive migrant crisis and the unforeseen challenges caused during the time of coronavirus pandemic.
An official spokesman from the University highlighted how efficiently the UP government handled the migrant crisis by providing transportation facilities, delivering ration kits, and running healthcare centres for outbreak prevention.
The migrant labourers returning to UP were mostly earned daily wages for survival and the state government announced schemes to provide free ration to the migrants.
The Harvard report went at length and reported how the Yogi government ‘model’ manages to take care of prevention from the pandemic, sustenance of their families, employment arrangements along skill mapping and other logistics.
The state government had organised in one of the most efficient manners, the safe return of migrants and create employment opportunities in the state by taking a holistic approach towards addressing the crisis, the study said.
The Yogi government not only provided buses and train services for stranded migrants but it also arranged transportation facilities for within-state travel and ensured that the schemes of the government became known to the people so they can utilise them.
As per data the state government arranged 1604 trains and brought back over 21 lakh migrants through Shramik trains i.e. 80 per cent of the total migrants who returned to the state.
The state government also brought back thousands of migrant workers from Delhi within a time span of 24 hours after the borders were sealed on March 28, 2020, and ensured round-the-clock free buses were made available for migrants wanting to travel within the state.
It had also put in place a three-step approach for outbreak prevention – thermal screening, quarantine, and isolation and the health department formed more than 90,000 screening teams to screen the migrants and anyone who came in contact with them.
The state government also set up as many as 18140 quarantine facilities as per the guidelines issued by National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and a total of 15.15 lakh migrants were quarantined at different points in time. The third step was isolation and testing of the migrants with suggestive symptoms.
The state government developed two types of ration kits: a 15-day ration kit and a 7-day ration kit for the migrants. Over 20.67 lakh families availed of these benefits out of which 16.35 lakh were provided with the 15-day ration kit. It established community kitchens.
Also, a total of ₹1,51,82,67,000 has been transferred to 15.18 lakh migrants’ account.
The state government devised a three-tier system (L1, L2, and L3) to deal with suspected and positive cases of COVID-19 in the state. By June 23, 2020, a total of 403 L1 hospitals, 75 L2 hospitals, and 25 L3 hospitals had been fully set up in the state.
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