On Friday morning, according to a report in PTI, a special train carried 1,200 stranded migrants left from Lingampally, Telangana to Hatia in Jharkhand amid the nationwide lockdown.
It is the first instance of such a train ever since the lockdown was imposed and therefore the trains carrying passengers were restricted to break the chain of transmission of the novel coronavirus. This move also comes after the Union Home Ministry’s decision to allow inter-state travel of stranded laborers, tourists, students, and pilgrims.
The 24 coach train left the Lingampally station at 4:50 am and is expected to reach Jharkhand around 11 pm on Friday. The officials of Jharkhand are also reportedly prepared to test and quarantine the migrants who will be returning to the state. The Railway ministry put out a statement and said that this is a ‘one-off’ special train that was arranged on the request of the Telangana government. The statement further said,
“All necessary precautions such as prior screening of passengers, maintaining social distancing at the station and in the train were followed.”
Similar Trains in Future
On the question of whether more such trains will be functioning in the near future, the official said more such trains will only be planned as per the directions of the railway ministry and on the request of the concerning state governments.
The states governed by the opposition parties – Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Kerala – have requested and urged the central government to deploy such trains to help the migrant laborers reach their homes. In its order, the central government had mentioned that the migrant laborers can be allowed to move across states only after the concerned states consult with each other and reach an agreement on the movement of the laborers.
Struggling for food, shelter, and money, thousands of migrant laborers have demanded the government to let them travel back to their hometowns. On Wednesday, hundreds of migrant laborers reached the construction site of the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad and attacked the construction officials and demanded wages from them. A day prior to that, migrant workers in Surat vandalized the construction office after the contractors brought in more laborers from different states to speed up the construction work.
Source: The Times of India
