Modi Government Providing Back-Door Help To BJP-Ruled States: Hemant Soren
Poor states are at the mercy of central government for financial aid, says Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
The central government’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis and its arbitrary decisions pose a problem for states, leaving them in complete disarray, according to Hemant Soren, chief minister of Jharkhand.
Poor states are at the mercy of the central government for any financial assistance, with pleas and requests for help frequently going unanswered, Soren said in an interview with Quintillion Media’s Editoral Director Sanjay Pugalia on Rajpath. It has also failed in handling the migrant workers’ crisis.
According to Soren, the central government has mismanaged the process of providing relief trains to transport stranded migrant workers. Instead, he said, the government was selectively helping certain states.
The centre is providing backdoor help to BJP-ruled states, while making things difficult for non-BJP-ruled states.Hemant Soren, Chief Minister Jharkhand
India put its 1.3 billion citizens under the world’s biggest lockdown, effective March 25, to prevent the deadly pathogen from spreading. That forced businesses, barring essentials, to shut.
Migrant workers are among the worst-hit as jobs and income dried up overnight, leaving them stranded in the cities where they worked, while many started walking back home in absence of public transport. Since the beginning of this month, the railways started running “Shramik Special” trains to move such workers but many are still stuck.
Migrant workers from Jharkhand are illegally being detained in states such as Tamil Nadu, according to Soren. A lot of workers, most of them women, are being locked inside factories and not allowed to travel to Jharkhand, he said.
Repeated calls to Home Minister Amit Shah, too, went unanswered, Soren said.
WATCH | Jharkhand Chief Minister On ‘Rajpath’