Sunday, December 27, 2020

Gujarat in 2020: Year of migrants' march, hospital fires, lion's roar

 

Disruption of industrial activities due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, protests by jobless migrants eager to return home and hospital fires- all these kept Gujarat in the news during the year.



Disruption of industrial activities due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, protests by jobless migrants eager to return home and hospital fires - all these and more kept Gujarat in the news during the year.

Near-deserted roads, closed factories, business establishments and educational institutions defined life in the early months of the lockdown in the state.

Public mask mandate, social distancing, hand hygiene, work from home and online education became buzzwords as people digested the magnitude of the global health crisis.

The lockdown turned into a human tragedy in Gujarat as migrant labourers, rendered jobless and left with very little resources to fall back on, decided to leave for their native places.

The restless migrant workers hit the streets to demand transport arrangements to travel back to their hometowns during the lockdown. These protests took violent turn in some cities.

There were painful scenes of migrant workers returning to their home states by whatever means of transport they got. While some just walked towards their native places, others used cycles or any other vehicle available to make the return journey.

The government later started special trains to ferry migrant workers to their respective states.

 

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