Chief minister Hemant Soren on Saturday appealed to the multitudes trying to get back home to stay where they were as the humanitarian cost of a nationwide lockdown in a country like India was thrown sharply into focus.
Hemant, whose Twitter account has been on overdrive to address all concerns tagged to him, also made his appeal through Twitter to his “brothers and sisters of Jharkhand' stuck in the Delhi-National Capital Region to call on two helplines at Jharkhand Bhavan, Delhi.
If anyone cannot get through to the helplines, he added in the tweet, they should WhatsApp the numbers with a brief description of their predicament.
He said his government would coordinate with host states concerned so that those stranded from Jharkhand get food and shelter.
Hemant, who is personally supervising the lockdown and logistic support operations, made an appeal to such people to stay where they were.
“Friends I can understand your plight in this crisis but in this situation it is not advisable to bring everyone home. If you stay where you are you will be safe,” the CM tweeted to a person who had tagged him to a video of workers from Deoghar stuck in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra, who said they had no money for food because their factory had shut and had appealed to Hemant to help them come back.
State agriculture minister Badal Patralekh also launched eight helpline numbers for Jharkhand residents stuck in other states during the ongoing nationwide lockdown.
The Telegraph
He has set up a control room at his residence to monitor distress calls. He said people can call up these numbers to get the Jharkhand government’s help for food, accommodation and sanitation wherever they are.
Patralekh added that those outside the state would be asked to stay where they were.
“The lockdown has been announced to break the chain of the coronavirus infection,” the minister said. “Only if a person has a special reason may the request be conceded. In that case, the person will have to bear the cost of travelling.”
Patralekh appealed to people to circulate the helpline numbers to friends and relatives so that people in need come to know of it. “In this age of information technology is it not difficult to circulate helpline numbers,” the minister said.
He said so far his control room had received over 100 calls.
“So far we received information about 3,567 people stuck in other states. I am personally speaking to chief secretaries and district collectors concerned who have assured me that the people won’t face any problem. We are receiving calls mainly from Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Surat, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar,” said the minister.
Stranded people included labourers, professionals, students, examinees, tourists.
“For example, a girl from Jadugoda who went to Pune to answer a test is stuck there,” the minister said.
Donation plea
Chief minister Hemant Soren on Saturday made a fervent appeal to people to donate to the CM Relief Fund.
People were asked to donate in bank account 11049021058 with IFSC Code SBIN0000167.
Responding to the appeal, the managing committees of Baba Baidyanathdham and Basukinath temple have decided to contribute Rs 1 crore each to the relief fund.
