Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President & Nalgonda MP Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has alleged that both Central and State Governments have treated the migrant workers in an inhuman manner.
He was speaking after launching a special web portal to address issues of stranded migrants in Telangana at Gandhi Bhavan on Saturday. The portal has been designed by TPCC IT Cell Chairman K. Madan Mohan Rao, who is also the CEO of company USMsys.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that Prime Minister Narender Modi and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao have failed to help the migrant workers. He said both Modi and KCR Govts did nothing for the migrant workers even on humanitarian grounds and they were treated in an inhuman manner on multiple occasions.
He said that both the governments did not show any concern even when a few migrant labourers died on the streets while returning to their homes by walk. He said both PM Modi and CM KCR would be remembered in history for creating a human tragedy by imposing an unplanned lockdown that displaced crores of migrant workers.
The TPCC Chief said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi has directed the party cadre to help the migrant workers and compared the present situation to the difficulties faced by refugees during partition of India in 1947. Following Sonia Gandhi’s appeal, he said Congress leaders and workers across Telangana State have helped migrant workers in every possible way.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that there were nearly 13 crore migrant workers across the country in need of immediate help. He said food, which is preserved in huge quantities in FCI godowns, should be provided them. He said that the situation would not have deteriorated if the government would’ve distributed rice and cash among migrant workers at the appropriate time.
However, he said both, the Central and State Government had no plans to effectively combat the Coronavirus or to find a safe exit from lockdown situation. He said KCR, who considers himself to be an expert on all subjects, had no clue about the approximate number of migrant workers in Telangana.
He said KCR gave two contradictory figures of 3.5 lakh and over 7 lakh migrant workers on different occasions. But another minister, Talasani Srinivas Yadav, claimed that there 15 lakh migrant workers in Telangana. He said lakhs of migrants work for construction, kiln industry and rice mills. He said the ignorance of facts has further deteriorated the conditions for migrant workers who found no help from any quarter, except for the Congress party.
The TPCC Chief said that the government should’ve taken the help of Indian Army to send back the migrant workers to their native places. Criticising the Modi and KCR Govts for not making arrangements for safe return of migrant workers, he praised the services rendered by Congress leaders in this regard. He also praised the role played by Congress MLA Jagga Reddy in helping the migrant workers.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the freedom of the press was in real danger in Telangana State. Accusing the TRS Govt of suppressing the media, he said the house of a news channel reporter, Paramesh, in Narayankhed was demolished by municipal authorities a day after he reported about TRS MLA Bhupal Reddy’s birthday party with 500 people with no social distancing and no masks. He said there has been a rise in cases of attacks on journalists.
He said even the Chief Minister is using abusing and intimidating tone against the media personnel during his press conference. He said this attitude towards media by the ruling party was a threat to the survival of democracy in India.
Meanwhile, Madan Mohan informed that the special web portal on stranded migrants was comprehensive and it works on the basis of Artificial Intelligence and accessible in multiple Indian languages. He said that the portal has been designed on war footing basis. He expressed regret that IT Minister K. Tarakarama Rao did not even attempt to provide this kind of service to the affected migrant workers.
Later in the day, the TPCC President distributed ‘Ramzan Tohfa’ to poor minority families in Miryalaguda constituency. Speaking on the occasion, he said that the Congress party always stood for welfare and security of minority communities and for communal harmony. He appealed to all Congress cadres in Telangana to distribute Ramzan Thofa among poor Muslim families as Iftar dinners could not be organised due to lockdown.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also flagged off a bus for Oriya brick kiln migrant workers from Nalgonda to Orissa state. The bus charges and enroute food cost was met by Congress party.
In Nalgonda today, he also visited a blood donation camp organised by Congress party on the occasion of the 55th birthday of MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy.