ON 26 March 2020 CPIML MLA from Jharkhand Vinod Singh had written to the Chief Minister that the money from his MLA fund should be sent into the bank accounts of migrant workers from Jharkhand. But the file was shunted from desk to desk for 19 days. On 12 April a decision was announced by the Jharkhand Gov: Rs 25 lakhs from every MLA fund should be sent to migrant workers’ bank accounts. With the proposal of sending Rs 2000 to each worker beneficiary, only 1250 workers will be covered by this amount.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren himself informed MLAs at a meeting with them that 2.5 lakh workers from Giridih district are stranded in other States. 25 lakhs each from the funds of 6 Giridih MLAs equals a total of Rs 1.5 crores. This way only 7500 workers will be covered. What will happen to the remaining 2,42,500 workers?
Out of total migrant workers from a given constituency, which 1250 should be aided and which 2,42,500 left out? Vinod Singh has told to the Jharkhand CM that, “I am willing to give the entire 3 crores of my MLA fund; if there is any problem in the administration regarding disbursing my MLA Fund then the reasons be explained with all transparency? He also demanded, “MP funds should also be added, as should funds from the CM Relief Fund and the Mineral Fund.” He has criticized the PM for rhetorical speeches but doing nothing for the migrant workers.
MLA Vinod Singh has requested that the entire amount from his MLA Fund should be immediately sent to the migrant workers. But, he said, even that would not be sufficient. All other available funds should also be used, and the special aid should be requested from the Centre.
Comrade Vinod Singh had written a letter to the Jharkhand administration in the last week of March saying that, “This is a time of crisis. Thousands of workers from Giridih Assembly constituency are stranded outside the State in metropolitan cities due to the Lockdown. The concerned State governments and administrations are not able to reach relief materials to these workers. The distressed workers are telephoning me and crying. Their families are also distressed. As they have no work, they are also facing a financial crisis. Food grains have become very expensive.
“Therefore it is my request that rules should be relaxed under these special circumstances and MLA funds should be transferred to migrant workers’ accounts for their rations. In addition, a demand should be made immediately for allotment of 2020-21 funds.
“I request you to give permission for this so that I can provide you with a list of migrant workers and their bank account numbers. Alternatively, you can also get the information from the Bagodar Vidhan Sabha Gram Panchayats through your agency.”
