Among the group of labourers included men, women and children, who were asked to keep their eyes shut while the district authorities in protective suits sprayed a solution on them to 'disinfect' them of any potential virus infection.
Amid the backdrop of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spreading like wildfire across India, a video, which many have termed "mildly disturbing" has emerged. A group of migrant labourers who reached Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district was on Monday reportedly doused in a chemical 'disinfectant' solution by the authorities while policemen stood watching and filming the action, a video which went viral on social media on this day showed.
Among the group of labourers included men, women and children, who were asked to keep their eyes shut while the district authorities in protective suits sprayed a solution on them to 'disinfect' them of any potential virus infection.
Journalists and activists took to Twitter to criticise the act after the video emerged, along with the severe condemnation of the district administration, which was asked, "Who are you trying to kill, the coronavirus or humans?"
According to reports, the batch of migrants had just returned to UP over the weekend after special buses were arranged for them to return to their native places. After walking for miles, travelling in overcrowded buses, and braving the risk of COVID-19 infection, the 'chemical bath' still awaited the poor labourers, as fate would have it.
Soon after the microblogging site Twitter was ravaged with condemnations of the Bareilly administration, the District Magistrate himself took to his official handle on the website to address the issue. He said that the team who did this was 'overzealous' as they were just asked to disinfect the buses, assuring that action has been initiated against the concerned officials.
"Under the Chief Minister's Office's supervision, those affected are being treated. The civic body and fire brigade team were asked to sanitise buses... but they did this because they were overzealous. Action has been initiated against officials concerned," the DM, Bareilly, wrote.
According to an NDTV report, some officials, however, have even defended the action, saying that they did what they thought was the 'best' given that a large number of migrants had just arrived and it called for immediate disinfection to minimise the risk of virus infection. The official, who was not named in the report, also added that only a mix of chlorine and water was used to douse the migrants, not a 'chemical solution' as has been claimed in the video.
The 21-day nationwide lockdown over coronavirus, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, has turned into a humanitarian crisis with the measure triggering a mass exodus of daily wage workers and labourers, including women and children, who were seen migrating from major cities to their homes in other parts of the country.
As the lockdown put their livelihoods on halt, these workers decided to leave the place of their employment for their native homes, most of them on a journey on foot of hundreds of kilometres. In Delhi, many of these men and women, with their bags on their heads and backs and some having babies clung to their arms, were seen waiting in long queues to board buses at the Anand Vihar Interstate Bus Terminal.
On Sunday morning, these overcrowded buses continued to carry people to different parts of Uttar Pradesh. The decision to deploy buses was taken after lakhs of these workers were seen stranded on highways and inter-state bus terminus or walking home on foot.
The Central Government stepped in on Saturday and asked states and union territories to immediately set up relief camps for migrant workers and others who are returning to their home states or trying to do so during the nationwide lockdown period. The Ministry of Home Affairs has authorised states to use the State Disaster Response Fund for relief measures for migrant workers during COVID-19 lockdown. Home Minister Amit Shah said as per the directions of Prime Minister Modi, the Centre has committed all support to migrant workers during the lockdown period.
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