The Odisha government onFriday set up 36 temporary camps to provide food and shelter to 5,547 migrant workers from different states who are stranded due to the 21-day nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the spread of novel coronavirus, officials said.The state government's chief spokesperson on COVID-19, Subroto Bagchi said that the temporary camps were opened at several places to provide relief to the migrant workers who were facing difficulties in returning to their respective states due to the lockdown."The workers are from Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Telangana, Haryana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh," Bagchi said.He said food and other necessities have been provided to the workers.Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has urged the Odia associations in different states to help stranded migrant workers from Odisha, Bagchi said."The Odisha government will bear all expenses made for ensuring the safety of the Odia migrant workers stranded in other states," he said.The Odia associations are also being urged to maintain contact with the state government for ensuring the safety of the stranded workers, Bagchi said.Patnaik had on Thursday written letters to his counterparts in other states urging them to help the stranded Odia workers.He assured them that the Odisha government will also take care of migrant workers from their states if they give information about the labourers.Apart from setting up a control room to assist the migrant workers from other states, the Odisha government has also urged collectors and superintendents of police of all the 30 districts of the state to look after the labourers during the lockdown period.
