Amid the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, Gurugram administration has come across a new challenge as a viral message on social media is telling migrant labourers and slum dwellers to leave the city claiming another lockdown is in the offing.
The exact text of the message reads, “In Gurgaon, police, state officials and bus operators telling this to urban slum dwellers: Leave as they will not be treated. Complete lockdown from 15th and no work for next 3 years. Especially for Bengals.”
When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Amit Khatri said, “It's fake, we're addressing it.”
Other administrative officials admit that such messages need to be timely addressed as it might create panic among the labourers.
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“It’s just mischief. Someone might have done it deliberately. It will provoke migrants to reach bus stands or railway stations and crowd. We are addressing it in our best possible way,” another administrative official said requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to talk to the media.
Anchal Sharma, who is helping migrants with food supply, says that they are already in deep distress due to loss of livelihood. Sharma, a cancer survivor and founder of the NGO Meal of Happiness, has been distributing food-packets among migrant workers in Delhi NCR for past two and a half months since the lockdown began.
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Sharma adds that she has been receiving requests from all across Delhi NCR for arranging buses for migrants to send them back to their villages.
“I am sending two busses full of labourers to Purnia in Bihar and most of them say that they are going because they fear another lockdown,” Sharma said adding that administration should instil confidence among these people that they will get full support.
