Three private luxury buses carrying around 150 migrant labourers from Odisha left Surat on Monday, a day after an MP said home minister Amit Shah had asked the state to allow people to return home at their own expense.
“The Surat district collectorate on Monday gave permission to three private luxury buses to take around 150 migrant workers to their respective places in Odisha,” resident additional collector S.D. Vasava said.
They are expected to reach Odisha in two days, officials said.
Hundreds of workers from Odisha stranded in Surat in the lockdown have held several street protests, demanding to be allowed to go home.
On Sunday, Navsari MP C.R. Patil had said Amit Shah had asked the state to permit people to go at their own expense. “The state government then informed the Surat collector to allow such travel,” Patil said.
“Many labourers are stuck in Surat and there is little chance that industries will reopen in the near future,” he added. PTI