Beijing, June 15 (IANS) Rural workers migrating to cities contribute significantly to the country’s economy and deserve better living conditions, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has said.
The living conditions for migrant workers who left their rural hometowns and are significantly contributing to the country’s urbanisation must be improved, Wen said during his visit to a local community and a construction site of Beijing’s subway.
‘Government officials, as well as all members of society, should treat young migrant workers as their own children,’ Wen said, adding that the migrant workers’ contribution to the growth of the country’s wealth and the building of urban skyscrapers should be respected.
Wen, while greeting migrant workers on the Dragon Boat Festival, said the government should work to resolve problems for migrant workers, such as marriage, housing and taking care of their children, and help them adapt to living in the cities where they are working.
The prime minister also asked local authorities and subway construction firms to provide more recreational facilities for migrant workers, Xinhua reported.
He encouraged young migrant workers to learn more practical skills and read more books so their leisure time would not be boring.
The premier vowed to provide more hospitals, schools and other public facilities in rural areas so that ‘migrant workers would have fewer worries in their hometowns’.
The Dragon Boat Festival, which falls Wednesday, is a traditional Chinese holiday to commemorate the life and death of romantic poet Qu Yuan (340 BC-278 BC).
