Will continue to run special trains to send migrants back home: Punjab govt

The Punjab government will continue to run special trains for migrants wanting to return home, a senior official said on Friday.

A total of 4.84 lakh migrant workers have returned to their native places from Punjab on 375 ‘Shramik Special’ trains since May 5, the official said.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has already directed the officials to do everything possible to ensure that no migrant worker faces any hardship in Punjab, especially on account of returning to his/her home state, said the nodal officer and principal secretary, PWD Vikas Pratap in an official release here.

Sufficient trains will keep running on need-based assessment to ensure all those who want to return are united with their families in a hassle-free manner, he said, adding that the state government will continue to run these trains till needed.

Punjab is among the best performing states when it comes to sensing migrants home, with nine more Shramik Special trains scheduled to run on May 30 from different locations across the state, an official release said.

Of the 375 special trains run so far, the maximum have gone to Uttar Pradesh (226), followed by Bihar (123), Jharkhand (9), Madhya Pradesh (7), Chhattisgarh (3), and West Bengal (2). One train each has gone to Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand.

The state government has spent Rs 26 crore till now to facilitate the migrants’ travel, which is being undertaken by the state’s deputy commissioners in collaboration with the railway authorities of Ferozpur and Ambala divisions.

At 188, the maximum trains have departed from Ludhiana, followed by Jalandhar (76), Amritsar (29), Patiala (24), Mohali (23), besides Ferozepur (15), Doraha (7), Sirhind (6), Bathinda (3), Gurdaspur (2), and one each from Hoshiarpur, and Pathankot.