Family members of migrants in Ghaziabad wait to board buses to their native states after spending previous night at the Kaushambi Bus Terminal after Delhi government announced complete lockdown for 6 days due to surge in Covid-19 cases.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and UP minister Siddharth Nath Singh has slammed the Delhi government decision to impose a six-day lockdown in the national capital to arrest the spread of Covid-19. Singh said that the lockdown decision was taken in a haste by the Arvind Kejriwal government. He said that Kejriwal is trying to cover up his government's gross failures in dealing with the situation.
Earlier on Monday, Kejriwal announced a six-day complete lockdown in Delhi to deal with the rising number of COVID-19 cases as the city's health system was stretched to its limits.
Singh said that the Kejriwal government has abandoned migrants to their fate. He said that the Delhi government didn't consult the Uttar Pradesh government before announcing the lockdown.
"Delhi CM is once again showing insensitivity towards UP and Bihar migrants. He imposed lockdown without any preparation," he said. "The health facilities in Delhi have collapsed and lockdown is just a cover up," the UP minister added.
"He was supposed to provide services to the public, but he didn't provide beds and other medical facilities. When you fail to deliver, you start looking for option to cover up your failure...lockdown was an option for him, so he imposed lockdown," Singh said.
Thousands of migrant workers continue to gather at Delhi's Anand Vihar ISBT to catch a bus home as week-long lockdown came into effect last night.
According to a PTI report, over 5,000 people gathered yesterday at Anand Vihar including at ISBT as well as the railway station and the numbers were rising. Kejriwal while announcing the lockdown decision made an appeal to the migrant workers to not leave, saying the "short period of lockdown would need not be extended".
"I assure you, the government will take full care of you. Main hun na, mujh par bharosa rakho (I am here for you, have faith in me)," Kejriwal had said on Monday afternoon.
The sudden announcement of the lockdown forced thousands of migrant workers rush to Anand Vihar ISBT area and other railway stations.
During the nationwide lockdown last year, a large number of migrant workers from Bihar, UP and other states living in Delhi had moved to their home states, through whatever means available and often on foot.
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