Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Rahul Gandhi interacts with home-bound migrant workers amid lockdown

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday (16) interacted with a group of migrant labourers near the Sukhdev Vihar flyover in Delhi and asked them about their problems as they walked home amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Gandhi sat on the pavement and gave the migrant workers a patient hearing and assured them of help in reaching their homes.


Dressed in black pants and white kurta, he talked to the workers and heard their grievances.

Sources close to Gandhi said he had an impromptu hour-long meeting with a group of 20 migrants, including women and children, walking from their work site near Ambala to their village near Jhansi. The meeting took place as they sat on the footpath on Mathura road in the national capital.

Mahesh Kumar, a migrant worker from Madhya Pradesh who along with 14 of his family members was sitting at the footpath, narrated his tale of woe to the former Congress chief.

"It was nice talking to him. At least someone heard us and our problems," he told reporters later.

The Congress claimed that the police detained some of the labourers later in preventive custody, saying they have "directions from the top to do so".

Police, however, denied that any migrants were detained.

DCP South East District R P Meena said Rahul Gandhi and some Congressmen interacted with the 15 labourers, including four women and a child. "After spending about 15-20 minutes, he left the place," he said.

Meena said the others accompanying the Congress leader were asked by SHO NFC to follow social distancing norms and later they took the migrant workers with them.

Party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra later tweeted thanking Rahul Gandhi and saying that someone has to talk to these migrant labourers and hear their ordeal.

"These are our own people. We will have to sit and talk with them. Their suffering has to be shared. They are nation builders. We cannot leave them alone in this time of crisis. Thank you my leader Rahul Gandhi," she said in a tweet in Hindi.

Asked at a Congress media briefing about Rahul's meeting and the police allegedly detaining the workers, Congress spokesperson Gaurav Vallabh said eight crore migrants were interested in returning to their homes and Gandhi was only trying to meet them and hear their grievances.

"They cannot even meet Rahul Gandhi. What is the reason of their detention. They should not even tell Rahul Gandhi that the government has done nothing for them so far," he told reporters.

A Delhi Congress leader said that Gandhi was passing from Sukhdev Vihar when he spotted the migrant workers stopped by the police. He intervened and talked to the migrant workers and assured them help.

Later, several Congress workers led by Delhi Congress chief Anil Chaudhary reached there and arranged help for the migrant workers.

Chaudhary said that the migrants, including women, children and elderly, were walking from Haryana to their native place in Jhansi, when they were stopped by the police near Modi Mill flyover.

He said that Delhi Congress arranged 8-10 vehicles to carry the migrant workers following the social distancing norms.

The Congress has been highlighting the problem of migrant labourers and workers walking on the roads without food and water. It has been demanding direct cash transfer to them along with free ration and has asked the government to ensure their safe transport back to their homes.

Migrant labourers in large numbers have been seen walking down the roads in the absence of public transport amid the lockdown in their bid to return to their native villages.

More For You

Norman Tebbit
Following Thatcher’s third general election victory in 1987, Tebbit stepped back from frontline politics to care for his wife. (Photo: Getty Images)

What was the Tebbit Test and why was it controversial?

LORD NORMAN TEBBIT, the former cabinet minister who introduced the controversial “cricket test” to question the loyalty of migrants, has died at the age of 94. The test, later known as the “Tebbit Test,” suggested that immigrants who supported cricket teams from their countries of origin instead of England were not fully integrated into British society. His death was confirmed on Monday by his son, William, who asked for privacy for the family.

Tebbit first spoke about the test in 1990 as a Conservative MP. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he said, “A large proportion of Britain's Asian population fail to pass the cricket test. Which side do they cheer for? It’s an interesting test. Are you still harking back to where you came from or where you are?”

Keep ReadingShow less
Air India flight crash
Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating flight AI-171 to London Gatwick, crashed into a medical hostel complex shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12.
Getty Images

Air India crash probe finds fuel to engines was cut off before impact

Highlights

 
     
  • Fuel to both engines of the Air India flight was cut off seconds before the crash
  •  
  • A pilot was heard questioning the other over the cut-off; both denied initiating it.
  •  
  • The Dreamliner crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad, killing 260 people.
  •  
  • Investigators are focusing on fuel switch movement; full analysis may take months.

FUEL control switches to both engines of the Air India flight that crashed shortly after takeoff were moved from the "run" to the "cutoff" position seconds before the crash, according to a preliminary investigation report released early Saturday.

Keep ReadingShow less
Chinese vessel tracked in Bay of Bengal after disabling identification system

The Indian Navy and Coast Guard have consistently reported Chinese research vessel presence. (Representational image: Getty Images)

Chinese vessel tracked in Bay of Bengal after disabling identification system

A Chinese research vessel was detected operating in the Bay of Bengal near Indian waters while attempting to conceal its presence by disabling its Automatic Identification System (AIS), according to a report by The Economic Times, citing French maritime intelligence firm Unseenlabs.

The French company conducted a 16-day satellite-based survey tracking ships through radio frequency emissions. It monitored 1,897 vessels, with 9.6 per cent showing no AIS activity, indicating attempts to avoid detection. The survey raised concerns amid increased Chinese activity in the region.

Keep ReadingShow less
Asian-inspired garden earns
five awards at Hampton Court

(From left) Malcolm Anderson (RHS, head of sustainability) Clare Matterson (RHS director general), Lorraine Bishton (Subaru UK and Ireland, managing director) Andrew Ball (director, Big Fish Landscapes) Mike McMahon and Jewlsy Mathews with the medals

Asian-inspired garden earns five awards at Hampton Court

BRITISH Asians are being encouraged to take up gardening by a couple who have won a record five medals at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival.

“It’s a contemporary reimagining of a traditional walled garden, highlighting the British and Irish rainforests,” said Jewlsy Mathews, who was born in Britain of parents from Kerala, a southern Indian state known for its lush vegetation.

Keep ReadingShow less
uk weather

Amber heat health alerts have been issued across several regions of England

iStock

England faces widespread heat alerts and hosepipe bans amid rising temperatures

Highlights:

  • Amber heat health alerts in place for large parts of England
  • Hosepipe bans announced in Yorkshire, Kent and Sussex
  • Temperatures could reach 33°C over the weekend
  • Health risks rise, especially for elderly and vulnerable groups

Heat warnings in effect as UK braces for another hot weekend

Amber heat health alerts have been issued across several regions of England, with temperatures expected to climb to 33°C in some areas over the weekend. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) activated the warning at 12 pm on Friday, with it set to remain in place until 9 am on Monday.

The alerts cover the East Midlands, West Midlands, south-east, south-west, East of England, and London. Additional yellow alerts were issued for the north-east, north-west, and Yorkshire and the Humber, starting from midday Friday.

Keep ReadingShow less