On Saturday the Centre launched an online database for migrants. The purpose of the database as declared by the government is to monitor the movement of the migrant workers and to enable them to reach back to their native villages amid the lockdown. This is a time when the plight of migrant workers in India has become international headlines. The National Disaster Management Authority(NDMA)has come forward and developed the National Migrant Info System(NIMS) which is a central only repository to facilitate the seamless movement of the migrant class amid the lockdown that has been imposed due to the coronavirus related lockdown.
The Union Home Ministry has appealed to all the states to urgently upload data on the NIMS dashboard so that the Centre may facilitate better movement coordination and contract tracing for the migrant workers. Some of the most important features of the stem are a unique ID card for each migrant worker that will be used for all transactions and help any state to visualise how many migrant workers leave the state and how many come back. The mobile numbers can also be utilised for the purpose of contact tracing and movement monitoring.
It is to be kept in mind that so far India has seen the migration of 3.5 lakh migrants who have been transported to their native states in 350 Shramik Special trains but there are countless more who need to be moved back home. This announcement comes just a day after the news of more than 25 migrant workers being killed and injured in road accident came to the forefront in UP’s Auraiya.
