After scores of migrant workers were seen taking the long and hard road home on foot, there were various concerns that were raised in context to huge crowd that they formed at the bus stations, defeating the purpose of national lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19. People also criticised the state and central governments for not handling the issue properly, announcing the lockdown without any provisions for this class.

The government of Uttar Pradesh finally took cognizance of the issue and arranged for 1,000 buses to ferry migrant labourers who are stranded on the border districts owing to a countrywide lockdown.

“Till late in the night, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was busy issuing instructions for arranging buses for the purpose,” the official said, adding that the chief minister also directed officials to arrange for food and water for such families.

The UP government, headed by BJP leader Yogi Adityanath, has blamed the Delhi government, run by AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, for the development saying that the workers were leaving homes as the Delhi government cut their water and power supplies.

Reacting to this, AAP leader Manish Sisodia tweeted, “I am very sad that BJP leaders have stepped to petty politics over the coronavirus epidemic. The Yogi Adityanath government has charged that (Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal has got power and water supply cut due to which people are leaving Delhi,” he said. It is time to seriously work together to save the country instead of doing “cheap politics”, Sisodia said in one of the tweets.

BJP’s Amit Malviya tweeted that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had won the Delhi assembly elections on the support of these migrants by “deceiving” them in the name of free water and electricity but has now left them to their fate in this crisis.

Meanwhile, India reported 179 fresh Covid-19 cases, highest in a single day, taking the tally to 918, and the death toll climbed to 19 on Saturday. Following this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a special contributory fund, amid looming fears of the country entering the third stage of community transmission.