Vice President Venkaiah Naidu underlines need for proper data on migrant workers

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday underlined the need for "proper" data on migrant workers to help authorities impart them with required skills and provide employment opportunities as the country exits the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.

In a Facebook post on the novel coronavirus and ways to deal with it, he said unfortunately, the poor, the daily wage earners, farmers, and small businesses have been severely affected by the events triggered by the pandemic.

The governments at the Centre and in the states have taken several measures to alleviate the suffering of the poor and the needy, especially migrant workers, he said.

"The recent events underline the need for having proper data on the migrants in the country. Creating such data will help the governments to impart skills and create employment opportunities to them in their respective places," he said.

At the same, there is a need to create awareness among the migrants on the facilities available for their welfare and upliftment, he opined. Over the past few weeks, lakhs of migrant workers have returned to their native states as the lockdown had rendered them jobless.

Referring to the precautions people are taking to prevent the spread of the killer virus, Naidu said, "What initially looked a bit bizarre and surreal has become the new normal."

"But driven as we are by our primal instincts of survival, we have also adapted to this new normal and this transition now appears quite seamless," he said.

When compared with many developed countries, India has managed the COVID-19 crisis quite admirably, he said. Experts have suggested that the fatalities could have been several times higher had there been no lockdown, the vice president said.

However, the gains the country has so far achieved, particularly in terms of containing the spread of the virus, should not be frittered away in the wake of "Unlocking-1", he cautioned.

"The coming weeks are extremely crucial and there is no room for complacency. Both the government and the people together have an onerous responsibility in ensuring that the curve gets flattened in the near future," he emphasised.

(Photo Credit: PTI)