The ancient town of Datia being gateway to Madhya Pradesh had to receive the migrant workers pouring in from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, after the lockdown was announced on March 24, 2020 in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic. The land of Pitambari Temple was suddenly inundated with surge of people, some barefoot, walking hundreds of kilometers to reach their native places. Most were tired, hungry and thirsty but didn’t know what to do. In lockdown they couldn’t buy things even if they had money.
First they came in small groups and the district administration was able to provide them whatever they needed. However, they started coming in hordes setting in panic among the district administration and it became a challenge to tackle them.
The then District Collector of Datia, Mr. Rohit Singh was the one who not only acted quickly but also ensured smooth passage of the migrants while following all the norms. In an interview with Indian Masterminds he said, we resolved that nobody should cross Datia starved & tired and made our an action plan accordingly.
Saathi Hath Badhana
Since the number of migrants was big and district administration couldn’t bear all the cost itself, it launched an initiative called ‘Saathi Hath Badhana’. Along with the public representatives of the state, the people and other government official were made part of this. They created a WhatsApp group on which anyone could ask for help and the willing person would do the needful.
“People started giving help like food items, vehicles and money for other necessities. We ensured that everyone should get proper transportation to at least crossing the district borders. Many camps were also set up for them to rest in. While starting it we didn’t know that it will become so huge and people will come to us offering help”, said Mr. Singh
He becomes emotional while calling a moment where a girl called him saying “Uncle, my brother and I have saved some money in our Gullaks and we want to give it you”. This was really sweet of them and it motivated us to do more work in our capacity so that there won’t be need to break the little ones Gullak, he said.
Sincerity and seriousness are demanded from the Public Servant
Mr. Singh has recently been transferred to Jhabua which is a tribal district. Earlier also he was part of many tribal dominated districts. In some places people are very particular and aware about their rights. That is not the case in most to tribal districts. Those people are very honest and innocent. They don’t have much idea about the schemes and rights they are provided by the constitutions. Sometimes this gives leverage to the officials to rest at their offices. I have never supported this kind of attitude, he says.
Sincerity and seriousness in the work is very important for any government officials. I try to ensure that in my administration. The government has chosen us for the betterment of people and we can’t back off from that”.
