Catholic dioceses in northern India plan to set up centres to help migrant labourers.
This was decided on August 7 during a virtual meeting organized by the Commission for Migrants under the Regional Bishops’ Council of the North (RBCN) in collaboration with its counterpart under the Conference of Catholic Bishops’ of India (CCBI).
The diocesan migrant resource centres along with helpline services to migrant workers will be prepared in collaboration with various CCBI commissions and coordinated by the conference’s secretariat based in Bengaluru.
The various commissions of CCBI will prepare a concept note on data collection, besides setting up the centres and launching helpline services to migrant workers.
The purpose of the centre is to collect data on migrants and make its services accessible and available to them. The concept note prepared at the online meeting has specified the quality of the data.
Other plans include engaging the migrants into mainstream society and encourage them to join the Church’s spiritual and welfare programs. It will also link them with the Church’s educational and healthcare insti-tutions that would accommodate and serve the migrants.
The migrant commission is to network with dioceses, reli-gious congregations, lay associa-tions and government for an integrated approach.