Andhra Pradesh’s Jagan Mohan Reddy government brought back 4,056 fishermen who were stuck in Gujarat after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announement for a nationwide lockdown due to novel coronavirus aka COVID-19. Due to the lockdown, these migrant labourers were struck away from home for a period over 30 days. The state government took action ro bring back fishermen after some states rescued their students and labourers.
A total of 52 buses manned by personnel from the Gujarat administration departed during the early hours on 29th April.
‘The last bus left Gujarat at 3am (on 29th). So , considering it could take about 3 days by road, we can expect them to arrive in the state within the next 72 hours. ‘, said additional Chief secretary PV Ramesh.
The Chief Minister has directed the officials to ensure that the entire operation is executed smoothly keeping all safety measure. CM Jagan Mohan Reddy has also decided to give Rs 2,000 to each fishermen to help them cope-up with the day-to-day expenditure.
To make sure that the return of these fishermen doesn’t result in increasing the spread of Covid-19 in the state, the authorities have decided that all the fishermen upon reaching their respective districts will be subjected to quarantine norms, tested during the same timeframe before being allowed to go to their respective residences.
The rescue operation took place after Andhra Pradesh CM spoke with Gujarat CM about the facilities being provided to migrants and the possibility of their travel.
A series of subsequent meetings resulted in the plan being formulated and being set into motion on April 28.
With the intervention of the Union minister of state for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy, the Gujarat government gave its nod for sending back the fishermen to AP.
