Rahul Attacks PM Modi Over Migrant Deaths, Says Govt is ‘Clueless’

Rahul said that the Modi government does not know the number of migrant workers who died during the lockdown.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and PM Narendra Modi.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, 15 September, hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for its mismanagement of the migrant crisis during the lockdown.

The Congress leader said that the Modi government does not know the number of migrant workers who died during the lockdown and how many jobs were lost.

The attack came after the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment on Monday, 14 September, told the Parliament that it has no data available on the number of migrant workers who lost their lives during the nationwide lockdown, imposed in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19.

“If you didn’t count, does it mean that people didn’t die? Yes, but it is unfortunate that there was no impact on the government. The world saw them dying but the Modi government remained clueless,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

(Image: Screenshot/Twitter)

The statement on migrant deaths was made as a response to a question raised in the Lok Sabha, seeking information on how many migrant workers had lost their lives while trying to return to their native places, and if state-wise details of the toll were available, Hindustan Times reported.

The ministry also added that since no such data was maintained, there was no question of giving compensation to the victims’ next of kin.

To another question on the government’s failure in the assessment of problems faced by migrant workers during the lockdown, Minister of State (MoS) with independent charge in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, said:

“India, as a nation, has responded through the Central and state governments, local bodies, self-help groups (SHGs), Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), medical health professionals, sanitation workers as well as a large number of genuine and bonafide non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the nation’s fight against the unprecedented humanitarian crisis due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and country-wide lockdown.”

122 million people have lost their jobs because of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country. Around 75 percent of these were small traders and daily-wage labourers, Hindustan Times reported.

(With inputs from Hindustan Times)