Railways operated 3,000 Shramik special trains to ferry migrants, says Piyush Goyal

Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said that Indian Railways has successfully operated over 3,000 Shramik special trains to ferry migrant labourers stranded in several parts of the nation to their home states.

“I’m very glad to say that the Railways has efficiently operated greater than 3,000 Shramik particular trains and transported migrant employees from completely different components of the nation to their house states,” Goyal tweeted in Hindi.

READ | Railways State '2600 Trains Scheduled In Next 10 Days'; 45 Lakh Travelled Since March 25

The Railways Minister urged the states to cooperate along with his Ministry to help the workers. “I as soon as once more enchantment to all of the states to cooperate with the Railways and assist their labourer brothers,” he stated.

On Sunday, the Ministry of Railways stated that almost 60 per cent of Shramik special trains originated from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Punjab and are majorly destined for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. People from UP and Bihar constitute 80 per cent of the passengers.

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45 lakh migrants ferried since March 25

As India's COVID-19 cases rise beyond 1.25 lakh, Railway Board chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav, on Saturday, revealed that 45 lakh people had travelled via trains since March 25 when PM Modi announced the nation-wide lockdown. He added that in the coming 10 days, Railways has scheduled 2600 trains via which 36 lakh people will travel.

The Shramik Specials had been operated after a directive by the Ministry of Home Affairs allowed interstate movement of migrants, pilgrims, vacationers, college students and different individuals stranded in different states amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown. 85 per cent of the travel expense is borne by the Centre while 15 per cent is shelled by the states as rent. States had reimbursed the expenses of travelling of people in some instances.

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The Centre has issued a new order empowering the Ministry of Railways and Home Ministry to decide on the movement of Shramik trains. According to the revised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), the consent of receiving states is no longer necessary. This move was reportedly necessitated after several states blamed each other for not accepting Shramik train requests.

Currently, India is its fourth phase of lockdown till May 31 as COVID-19 cases stand at 1,38,845 with 57,721 recoveries and 4,021 fatalities.

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