Trains taking jobless migrants to their home States
| A massive inter-State transportation of migrant labour back home
is under way in India. The figures of these less fortunate
countrymen might cross a million. Rendered jobless and helpless
in the ongoing corona lockdown, they present a moving picture of
agony and deprivation. It's not their Chunyun!.
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NEW DELHI, May 3: Following the Ministry of Home Affairs' clearance,
the Railways have started running non-stop special trains to ferry jobless migrants,
students and others stranded in various States due to the coronavirus lockdown,
to their home States after coordinating with the departing and destination States.
Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Maharashtra, Kerala and other States began their
coordination work on Friday to send/receive stranded people and migrant labourers.
The Railways on Saturday ran 10 trains to ferry nearly 10,000 migrants to their
home in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar.
As per the arrangements, the railways prints and hands over the tickets to
the respective District Collectors, who will collect the fare on behalf of the
Railways. The accommodation on train will maintain social distancing. Therefore,
trains will carry fewer passengers.
Meals and drinking water will be provided to the passengers at the departing
station. The IRCTC will provide meals inside the train. The Railway Protection
Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel will take care of
security on board.
The receiving State will make the arrangements for the screening of the passengers,
their quarantine and the final lap of their journey to their native places.
Kerala operated two trains to Bihar and three to Jharkhand on Saturday: Thiruvananthapuram
Central to Hatia (Jharkhand); Aluva to Khurba Road; Aluva to Danapur; Kozhikode
to Ranchi; Tirur to Patna.
The first 'Shramik Special' ran from Aluva to Odisha on Friday.
Kerala had 3.6 lakh migrant labourers in 20 camps since the lockdown began.
They are from Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Assam.
The following are the trains which are currently taking migrants to their
home States:
- Vasai in Maharashtra for Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh (200 migrants; started
4:30 am)
- Jaipur to Patna (started on Saturday to reach on Sunday)
- Nashik to Bhopal
- Kota to Barauni (Started 11 am Saturday to reach Monday )
- Kota to Gaya (Started Sunday 11 am to reach Tuesday)
- Aluva to Bhubaneswar
- Aluva to Khurba Road
- Ernakulam South to Danapur in Bihar (to reach on Sunday)
- Tirur to Danapur (to reach on Sunday)
- Thiruvananthapuram to Hatia in Jharkhand
- Nashik to Charbagh in Lucknow (800 migrants)
- Kerala to Jagannatpur in Odisha
- Sabarmati to Agra (1188 passengers)
- Mumbai's Bhiwandi to Gorakhpur (1104 migrants)
- Bengaluru to Danapur (starts at 10 am and reaches on May 4).
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