In 2022 Nanaji Dembi pulled down the Hurriyat office board in Srinagar, an act of defiance that grabbed headlines. Despite such nationalistic bravado, the BJP has denied him a ticket for the assembly election.
Delighted by the Centre's move to notify the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA), nearly 2,000 Pakistani Hindus living in Nagpur are preparing to seek Indian citizenship.
Our journey was filled with challenges due to the identity we carried with us. But now we are 'Bharatiya Nagriks'
In the volatile international situation where 'nativism' is on the rise and immigrant communities are being targeted, the Leader of the Opposition's statement is like adding fuel to fire. If the Indian diaspora numbering 4 crores is threatened it will constitute a grave threat to national security, warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The employers, many of whom had virtually abandoned the migrant labourers, are sending them train and even flight tickets to fetch them back as factories whir back to life, construction activities pick up and the sowing season sets in.
According to the report, the magnitude of internal migration is about two-and-a-half times that of international migration.
A meeting convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday afternoon will see the leaders of around 20 opposition parties come together on a common platform through video-conferencing.
So far 14 Kashmiri Pandits have filed nominations to contest from the valley for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, aiming to ensure the return and rehabilitation of their fellow community members, whose number run up to 3 lakh.
The Bharatiya Janata Party said on Monday the railways has subsidised 85 per cent of ticket fare for special trains being run to transport migrant workers and the state government has to pay the remaining 15 per cent, soon after the Congress attacked the central government over the issue.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the worst Covid-19 affected state of Maharashtra to be more vigilant and make concerted efforts in identifying and sending the migrant workers still stranded there to their native places. The top court, which directed all states and Union territories to transport all stranded workers by train, bus or other modes within 15 days, said there were "huge lapses" by the Maharashtra authorities in dealing with the issue and asked the government there to announce a suitable place for their registration.
'For them life is very difficult since there has been no universalisation of PDS.' 'And let's understand that there are people who need ration instead of cooked meals.'
Launching the scheme, Modi said during the nationwide lockdown, the talent from cities returned to villages and it will now give a boost to development of rural areas. The 'Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyaan' will be implemented on a mission mode in 125 days in 116 districts of six states -- Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha -- that received the maximum numbers of migrant workers back.
Though authorities and NGOs have made arrangements for their food, most of them want to go back to their native places to escape the hardship brought by the sweeping curbs.
"The mortal remains of the 16 migrant labourers, who died after they were run over by a freight train near Aurangabad yesterday, were sent to Madhya Pradesh on a special train -- carrying migrant labourers to the state -- on Friday night," said an official.
Labour ministry guidelines say workers returning to cities must get housing, health insurance, facemasks. The Centre has also asked states to issue guidelines to employers to take care of the needs of migrant workers.
The Union home ministry on Tuesday asserted that Indian Muslims need not worry as the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) will not impact their citizenship and has nothing to do with the community which enjoys equal rights as their Hindu counterparts.
'The government there at one point did not even permit migrant labourers to return...we do not want to say anything against anyone but the situation there was not handled properly'
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the government's decision to transport migrant workers, stranded during the lockdown, to their villages.
To capture the information regarding movement of migrants and facilitate the smooth movement of stranded persons across the states, National Disaster Management Authority has developed an online dashboard namely, National Migrant Information System, on the existing NDMA-GIS portal
Gandhi noted that lakhs of migrants continue to walk hundreds of kilometres to reach back their homes without food, water, medicines and cash. She also accused the central government and the Railways of completely ignoring the demands made by the Congress for ensuring the safe and free travel of migrant workers and labourers to their homes.
There was no announcement from the government on guaranteeing a minimum basic income, which is the need of the hour. The announcements on portability of ration cards and affordable rental housing to workers are for the long and medium terms. Migrant workers need immediate relief.
The group, comprising on 147 women and 20 men, were airlifted by an Air Asia chartered flight from Kochi to the Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar.
Asserting that Article 370 is a thing of the past, Shah stated that no one can bring it back.
Modi began his nearly 45-minute speech by welcoming the people who attended the rally in the Kashmiri language. "This time, the (assembly) election will decide the future of Jammu and Kashmir, which has remained the target of foreign powers since Independence," he told the gathering.
Hundreds of migrant workers from Delhi, Haryana and even Punjab reached Anand Vihar, Ghazipur and Ghaziabad's Lal Kuan area after taking arduous treks of many kilometers on foot to take buses to their respective native places
Forty-nine migrant workers have been inducted by the state government as members of its 'COVID-19 Warriors Club' to assist the coronavirus patients.
Eighteen Hindu refugees from Pakistan residing in Ahmedabad have been granted Indian citizenship during a camp attended by Gujarat minister of state for home Harsh Sanghavi.
Only two in every five migrants said they received ration or cooked food from the administration either daily or at times.
Each train is likely to carry around 1,000-1,200 passengers, keeping in mind the social-distancing protocol.
Indian football icon Bhaichung Bhutia on Monday offered shelter to migrant workers of Sikkim to tackle the ongoing crisis arising out of the 21-day nationwide lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Migrant workers of unorganised sectors, desperate to return home, have been badly hit after the nationwide lockdown was imposed last week.
The move came even as deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, while speaking in the state assembly earlier in the day, sought to go by the version of the Tamil Nadu DGP who has rubbished reports of attacks on Hindi-speaking people in that state.
How wonderful it would be for all of us to watch the Oscar ceremony on March 2, 2025 and watch AWIAL win an Oscar, notes Aseem Chhabra.
In view of increased threat perception, the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Wednesday decided to immediately post Kashmiri migrants employed under prime minister's special package and other employees belonging to the Jammu division in "secured locations'' in the Valley by June 6, officials sources said.
These workers do not have jobs and the Railways should not charge train fare from them, Deshmukh said in a video message. The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said the Railways has subsidised 85 per cent of ticket fare for special trains being run to transport migrant workers and the state governments have to pay the remaining 15 per cent.
The SOP said the train schedule, protocols for entry and movement of passengers, services to be provided in coaches, and arrangements with states and UTs for booking of tickets shall be publicised by the MOR.
'In difficult times as now, the call of the village is all that these migrants can hear,' observes Vijaya Pushkarna.
Of the total trains, 2,875 have terminated, while 401 are in transit. The top five states and union territories from where maximum trains originated are Gujarat (897), Maharashtra (590), Punjab (358), Uttar Pradesh (232) and Delhi (200).
In a two-pronged strategy to secure migrant workers, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to set up a migration commission for the employment of such labourers in the state and made it clear that any state that wants them from UP has to seek its permission.
'Our clients need business. For business you need workers and so we decided to help'
A confidential Trump campaign memo Tuesday acknowledged that the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris has energised the Democratic base and that given what has happened over the past couple of days there is no question that she will get her bump earlier than the Democrat's Convention.