The letter was sent after Prime Minister Modi and HM Amit Shah expressed concerns to Arvind Kejriwal on exposing the migrants to a health hazard.
New Delhi| Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal has written a letter sharply criticizing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on the exodus of thousands of migrants from Delhi to other states that created a chaos at the Delhi-UP border, forcing states to seal the borders and take responsibility of migrants.
The letter was sent after Prime Minister Modi and HM Amit Shah expressed concerns to Arvind Kejriwal on exposing the migrants to a health hazard.
A home ministry official informed that Amit Shah held a high-level meeting and called up UP CM Yogi Adityanath and Haryana CM Manoharlal Khattar to instruct them to not allow movement of migrants across borders. Shah said the exodus defeated the very purpose of lockdown.
It is learnt that both PM Modi and HM Amit Shah had spoken to CM Arvind Kejriwal earlier.
Infuriated by the Delhi Government for allowing DTC buses to drop migrants to the UP border, home Secretary Ajay Bhalla also told Chief Secretary of Delhi to suspend two senior IAS officers for lapses in enforcing the lockdown.
After the exodus, the central government has instructed state governments to quarantine migrants who fled from Delhi in state-run transport facilities. They are ordered to put in quarantine for 14 days before they are allowed to go home.
“It is going to be a massive exercise… was completely avoidable,” an official from Home Ministry said.
“It also makes the point that the Delhi government had a free hand to implement the lockdown and had all the powers that it needed,” he further added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a 21-days lockdown across the country in the wake of coronavirus spread. Stressing on the necessity of social distancing, he had appealed the citizens to stay inside their houses and not to cross the Laxman-Rekha.
Delhi saw thousands of migrant workers walking on the highways, trying to return to their hometowns amid the lockdown. Most of them, who are daily wagers in an unorganized sector, said they will die of hunger in the city if they don’t return back home.
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