'Only 41 Shramik trains for Maha despite being prepared to run 125 trains': Piyush Goyal

Railways minister Piyush Goyal, on Sunday sought details 125 Shramik special trains, which were scheduled to run in the state on Monday and its list of passengers from the Maharashtra government. However, despite a number of reminders in a series of tweets, the minister received the passenger details for only 46 trains from the Maharashtra government, Goyal said in a tweet on Monday. Furthermore, out of those 46, Goyal informed that five are destined for West Bengal and Odisha and cannot be operated due to cyclone Amphan. Therefore, 41 trains will ferry migrant workers who wish to travel back home, said the Railway Minister  hours after midnight on May 25.

This comes after over five hours since the Centre made an urgent request from the Maharashtra government in a bid to help the workers from other states who wish to travel back home amid lockdown. Goyal, who has been repeatedly asking the state for the passenger list, had again requested the state government to provide the details of the migrants in an hour, before being notified about 46 trains, so that the process of helping the stranded workers could proceed. 

Earlier, the Centre was criticised by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for not taking “any step” despite several requests. However, even though the Railway Minister announced the availability of at least 125 trains on May 25 for the workers in Maha, he has also noted that without the passenger details, it would be “impossible” for the Railways to run them.

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Maha CM lashes out on Centre for trains

Before Railway Minister’s announcements, Thackeray had lashed out on the Centre for not assisting the state government with enough trains to help the migrant workers. Maha CM not only said that the Centre had failed to make any arrangements until the “situation got worse” but also mentioned that there was a requirement of 30-40 trains. Thackeray also added that the Centre's share of the train ticket cost is yet to be received by the state who has arrangement the departure of over seven lakh migrants.

"We never wanted the migrants to leave, but they wanted to return to their native places. The state government had initially requested the Central government to make arrangements for the migrants' return, however, they did not take any step. Once the situation got worse, the action was initiated," Thackeray said. 

The CM added, "Maharashtra government will bear all the expenses of the migrants travelling back to their homes. I am confident that the Centre will pay as they promised. Till now, more than 7 lakh migrants have left Maharashtra. I request the Centre to provide 30-40 Shramik trains for the migrants."

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