Labour Dept.’s action plan aims to avert repeat of travail

State Police Chief told to keep a close watch on migrant-intense regions

The decision of the State Labour Department to chalk out an action plan specifically for migrant workers has proved timely with a State-wide nine-day lockdown kicking in from Saturday. The plan submitted by the department for the well-being of migrants and subsequently approved by the government envisaged three different scenarios, of which one was the lockdown. The other two possibilities were the controlled and uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 with no lockdown. The department has asked the State Police Chief to keep a close watch on the migrant worker-intense Payipadu in Kottayam and Perumbavoor in Ernakulam during the lockdown. Instigated by misinformation campaigns by unscrupulous elements, migrant workers had hit the streets in large numbers in violation of norms during the lockdown last year. The action plan aims at avoiding a repeat of that scenario and wants the police to clamp down on any such campaigns and fake news.