At least 2.5 lakh migrants can return to Bengal in the next few days using a window thrown open by the Centre, suggest data collated for the first time in the state on the basis of a welfare scheme.
If the figures hold, the homecoming will confront the state government with a Herculean challenge of keeping them in isolation, either at their homes or in quarantine centres. Some officials also fear social unrest in the villages.
In order to cushion the impact, the state government is holding discussions with the Centre as well as other states to ensure that migrant workers are sent in phases.
Sources said that until now, Bengal had no official estimate of migrant workers from the state. But since Sneher Paras — a scheme to give a one-time payment of Rs 1,000 to each stranded migrant worker hailing from Bengal — was launched, around 6 lakh people had applied for the grant.
“Several of these applicants were not migrant workers. After primary verification of the applications at the district level, we arrived at a figure of about 2.5 lakh people who are outside Bengal and want the grant from the government. Those actually coming back may be more as some people may not be aware of the scheme,” said a state government official.
The challenge will begin from this week. Around 4,000 workers are expected to reach Bengal from Rajasthan and Kerala on Monday and Tuesday.
“All will be screened at the railway stations. From there, the workers will be taken to camps in their districts. They will be screened again in the camp and their address and phone number recorded. Those showing symptoms will be taken to government quarantine centres,” said an official.
The rest of the workers will be asked to quarantine themselves at home, and district health workers will run a check, he added.
The process is in line with the Union home ministry’s advice. “But, ideally, all such workers should have been sent to institutional quarantine as they would be coming in from some states where Covid-19 has spread rapidly. But the districts do not have quarantine facilities for such a large number of people,” said another official.
Bengal has 581 quarantine centres. Each district has an institutional quarantine capacity ranging between 3,000 and 6,000.
The Sneher Paras registrations suggest many districts should be prepared to receive between 10,000 and 15,000 migrant workers. In the case of districts like Malda, the number could be higher.
According to primary information, at least 35,000 migrant workers from Malda are stuck in other states. “Even if half of them arrive on trains and buses, it will be a big challenge depending on how many show symptoms,” an official said.
Malda has 33 quarantine centres, with a total of 3,025 beds.
More than 15,000 migrant workers are expected to return to Jalpaiguri. The district can house 6,000 in its quarantine centres.
Government officials are worried on two counts.
First, sending the majority of the workers to self-quarantine will be risky as many of them do not have enough space at their homes to follow the social-distancing norms.
Second, the district authorities fear unrest if the workers are sent to home quarantine as residents in many areas have protested against people trying to enter their villages.
“But on humanitarian grounds, the state government cannot say that it will not allow the return of migrant labourers,” said a senior official.
“If tens of thousands of people enter the state all of a sudden, no plan will work. We have requested all the states to send the workers in phases, so that we can adopt some basic precautionary measures.”
A section of the officials accused the Centre of prevaricating over the migrants and compounding the problems of the states, which are in the middle of combating the Covid-19 outbreak.
“The Centre did nothing since the last week of March and suddenly they have allowed the movement of migrant workers. Had the movement been planned early and the workers sent home in phases over the past one month, the situation could have been handled better,” a Nabanna official said.