Advertisement

Updated May 15th, 2020 at 22:24 IST

Home Secy asks states/ UTs to ensure no movement of migrant workers on road, rail tracks

Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has written to Chief Secretaries of all states, UTs to ensure that there is no movement of migrant workers on roads & rail tracks

Ajay Bhalla
| Image:self
Advertisement

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has written to Chief Secretaries of all states and UTs to ensure that there is no movement of migrant workers on roads and railway tracks, and facilitate their travel through special buses or Shramik special trains.

In the letter, Bhalla noted that despite the Ministry's earlier advise to State/UT authorities to appropriately counsel migrants walking on roads and provide them with food, water and shelter, thousands of them were still seen walking on roads, railway tracks and travelling in trucks in different parts of the country.

READ | SC Stays MHA Circular Directing Private Companies To Make Full Payments To Their Employees

Responsibility on States/UTs

"Government has allowed the movement of migrant workers by buses and 'Shramik' special trains to enable them to travel to their native places. It is now the responsibility of States and Union Territories to ensure the movement of stranded migrant workers who are willing to go to their home States is facilitated," Ajay Bhalla wrote in the letter.

He asked local authorities to widely disseminate the arrangements for travel in special buses/Shramik trains amongst the workers and persuade/counsel them that they should not be walking when they can avail state-sponsored modes of transport.

READ | MHA Says Passenger With E-tickets Don't Need E-pass To Board Trains; Mandates Precautions

The letter comes amid the widespread media coverage of the migrant exodus from cities and other urban areas to their native states, particularly in North and Eastern India. Dozens of migrants have died during their arduous journey back home, with fresh reports of accidents on roads and railway tracks coming almost daily. The sheer size of the exodus has overwhelmed local authorities who are grappling between maintaining lockdown norms on one side and restrict this exodus on the other.

READ | Coronavirus Live Updates: India's Cases At 81970; Centre Rolls Out 11 Agricultural Reforms

Special trains from May 12

In a major step towards easing of restrictions, the Ministry of Railways on May 10 announced that 15 pair of trains (30 return journeys) will run from New Delhi station to Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Mumbai Central, Bengaluru, Jammu Tawi, Bhubaneswar, Ranchi, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Ahmedabad, Secunderabad, and Chennai from May 12. It also promised to start special trains on new routes depending on the available coaches after reserving 20,000 coaches for the COVID-19 Care Centres and an adequate number of coaches to enable operation of up to 300 Shramik Special trains. The tickets will be available for sale from 4 pm on Monday, May 11 solely on the IRCTC website.

(PTI Photo)

READ | MHA Issues SOP For Movement Of Persons By Train; Only Asymptomatic Passengers Can Travel

Advertisement

Published May 15th, 2020 at 22:24 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending Quicks

Jailed Gangster Mukhtar Ansari Passes Away
a few seconds ago
Congress Press Conference
9 minutes ago
Vitamin A
12 minutes ago
Representational image of a school bus.
12 minutes ago
Nvidia China chip launch
17 minutes ago
Crew
19 minutes ago
Hardik Pandya and Lasith Malinga
25 minutes ago
Christopher, Wife Emma To Get British Knighthood And Damehood
31 minutes ago
Kendriya Vidyalaya Students
31 minutes ago
The tax notice sent to the Congress party pertains to the assessment years 2017 to 2021.
40 minutes ago
Tie-dye printed shirts
44 minutes ago
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo