“I am a migrant myself and aware of the problems faced by migrants in the country,” Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam said. “We are launching the website and the online newspaper for migrants on the occasion of Maharashtra Din. We want to address the problems faced by migrants all over the country and promote interaction among them.”

The web address would be www.wethemigrants.com and the online newspaper would be named “we the migrants”.

Nirupam pointed out that by conservative estimates, there were at least five crore migrants in the country, including about 70 lakh in Mumbai. “We have identified 139 cities in India which have a strong presence of migrants. These include cities in Maharashtra like Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Ulhasnagar, Nagpur, Jalgaon and Solapur,” he said, pointing out that there were about 90 Lok Sabha constituencies in the entire country where rapid urbanisation had increased the presence of migrants, after the recent delimitation of constituencies.

He pointed out that in Maharashtra, out of the 288 Assembly constituencies, 92 were in big cities like Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Nashik, where the migrant population was substantial. “They are also voters, they have a political voice,” he added.

He said the conflict between locals and migrants was not limited to Mumbai alone, but existed even in states like Punjab, Kerala and Bihar. He said the website would include live chats, offer advice to migrants on problems and provide legal information.

“As urbanisation increases and migrants continue to move around, there is a need for a separate ministry in the Central Government to deal exclusively with the issues concerning migrants. It should be on the lines of the one existing for NRIs. If a separate ministry is not possible, then at least a section should be created in the Union Home Ministry,” he said.