Mamata Banerjee on Monday urged 22 lakh migrant workers, currently working in other states, to return to Bengal and directed her administration to introduce a new scheme to provide them with jobs and other facilities immediately.

The chief minister’s call came amid reports of harassment and atrocities faced by Bengali-speaking migrant workers in BJP-ruled states.

“We have 22 lakh migrant workers. I will ask Samirul (Islam), who is the chairman of the migrant workers’ welfare committee, and Malay (labour minister Malay Ghatak) to meet the chief secretary within a day or two and prepare a new scheme. You must make arrangements to bring them back,” Mamata said during an administrative review meeting in Bolpur, Birbhum.

Mamata said her government would provide jobs to the returning migrant workers under the Karmashree scheme — launched to employ rural workers after the Centre withheld MGNREGA funds.

Within an hour of completing her Bhasha Andolon march in Bolpur, the chief minister announced that her government would arrange special trains, similar to those during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. She said a meeting had already been held, and a special scheme for migrant workers was underway.

“I urge those being tortured outside Bengal to come back. Let us know your dates, and we’ll arrange trains just as we did during the Covid outbreak. We’ll introduce more schemes to provide you with work. I held a meeting today and a new scheme is already being prepared,” Mamata said during a political programme.

Although Bengal has around 22 lakh registered migrant workers employed outside the state, multiple sources estimate the actual number to be significantly higher. Districts like Murshidabad, Malda, Cooch Behar, Birbhum and East Burdwan contribute the highest number of migrant workers to other states.

Asked about the plan to bring back Bengali-speaking migrant workers, Samirul Islam, who is also a Rajya Sabha member of the Trinamool Congress, said: “The process will begin as per the chief minister’s instructions. You will come to know once it begins.”

Sources indicated that Mamata’s appeal and announcement of a new scheme carried political weight, especially as the BJP had been pressuring the Election Commission to initiate a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bengal — similar to Bihar — to weed out alleged fake voters.

A Trinamool source said the party suspected that the Election Commission, in coordination with the BJP, might attempt to delete the names of migrant workers from voter rolls, as many reside outside the state and return only during elections.

“If a significant number of names are removed, it would pose a threat to the party in next year’s Assembly elections,” the leader said.

“If they return and settle in Bengal, and the SIR process begins, the Election Commission will not be able to remove their names,” said a senior Trinamool leader in Calcutta.

“Moreover, bringing back migrant workers helps the party project a narrative that the government is sympathetic toward its people who are suffering in BJP-ruled states,” the leader added.

While some migrant workers are Hindu, the majority — especially from Muslim-majority districts like Murshidabad and Malda — are known to be loyal Trinamool voters.

Mamata instructed district magistrates to ensure that no genuine voter’s name was deleted from the electoral rolls.

The BJP criticised Mamata’s move, alleging that it was aimed at keeping the names of Rohingya people and Bangladeshi Muslims on the voter list.

“Her only agenda is to ensure that the names of Rohingya people and Bangladeshi Muslims remain on the voters’ list. This move is a part of that effort. However, we will do whatever is necessary to ensure their names are removed,” said BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya.

He said migrant workers would not return, knowing well the chief minister’s limited ability to provide jobs to them.

CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty said he supported the return of migrant workers but doubted the chief minister’s intent to build necessary job infrastructure.

“Those who returned during the Covid-19 outbreak witnessed the lack of job opportunities in Bengal. The chief minister repeatedly promises to bring back migrant workers but fails to provide sustainable employment options to them. Though she claims there are 22 lakh migrant workers from Bengal, the actual number is much higher,” Chakraborty said.