Maha govt released Rs 67 cr for migrants' train travel so far

The Maharashtra government has so far released Rs 67.19 crore through the Chief Minister's Relief Fund to bear the cost of train travel of the stranded migrant workers to their native places from the state, an official said on Thursday.

The government, which had initially provided Rs 54.75 crore for the purpose, has now released additional Rs 12.44 crore from the CM Relief Fund, an official of the Chief Minister's Office (CM) said.

"The state government had already spent Rs 54,75,47,070 to buy the train tickets for migrant workers. The funds had been transferred to the district collectors across the state, where migrant workers had registered themselves to return their home states," the official said.

"In the second round, Rs 12,44,08,420 have been released from the CM Relief Fund for six districts. The state government has thus spent Rs 67,19,55,490 so far to bear the ticket fares of the stranded migrant labourers," he said.

Special trains are being run by the central government to ferry the migrant workers to their home states from different parts of the country, where they are stuck due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

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