Mamata urges Centre to provide Rs 10,000 aid to migrant workers amid COVID crisis

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday appealed to the Centre to provide one-time assistance of Rs 10,000 each to migrant workers out of job due to the coronavirus crisis. She said that a portion of Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES) fund could be used for such a measure.

On Twitter, Banerjee wrote that people have been facing economic hardship of "unimaginable proportions" because of the COVID-19 pandemic (and the subsequent lockdown). 

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Double whammy for Bengal

In view of COVID-19 pandemic, India imposed a strict lockdown at the end of March that was extended for the fifth time and will run through June. The over two-month-long lockdown has made the economy head towards its first annual contraction in several decades as activities across sectors came to an abrupt halt. Estimates say over 10 crore people have lost their jobs, mostly in the informal sector where a majority of migrant workers earn their livelihood, resulting in a migrant exodus from cities back to their native towns.

West Bengal has received a lot of these labourers and stares at a massive pool of unemployed people who have little to no financial means to sustain themselves. To make matters worse, the devastating Cyclone Amphan of May has ravaged the state and caused more disparity in poorer districts of the state.

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