Two ‘Shramik Express’ trains bring 2,300 migrant workers from Kerala & Gujarat to Odisha

Two 'Shramik Special' trains carrying around 2,300 migrant Odia workers stranded in Kerala and Gujarat due to the nationwide lockdown reached Odisha on Sunday, officials said.

While the first train carrying around 1,150 labourers reached Jagannathpur and Khurda Road railway stations in Ganjam and Khurda districts, respectively in the morning, the other train from Surat in Gujarat arrived at Jagannathpur in the evening, they said.

The migrant workers, who mostly work in construction and fishing sectors in Ernakulam district of Kerala, had boarded the train from Aluva on Friday evening, while the labourers engaged in textile mills in Surat left the western state on Saturday.

Around 560 passengers of the train from Kerala who hail from southern Odisha districts, including Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Rayagada, Koraput and Nabarangpur alighted at Jagannathpur, the remaining got down at the Khurda Road Railway Station, they said.

Those who alighted at Khurda Road where the Kerala train terminated were sent to districts like Kendrapara, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Khurda, Bhadrak and Cuttack, officials said.

The passengers of the special train from Surat mostly hailed from south Odisha. A majority of them were from Ganjam district.

The passengers, including women and children, were screened and given certification for the journey before boarding the trains in Kerala and Surat, they said.

“The Ganjam district administration has made elaborate arrangements to take the labourers to different quarantine centres by buses after preliminary screening. Security was tightened in the station,” SP (Ganjam) Brijesh Rai said.

Steps were taken to ensure that the workers strictly observed social distancing norms after their arrival at the railway stations, they said, adding all workers were wearing masks and stood inside circles marked on the platform.

The workers were received by government officials.

They were given food packets and stamped with indelible ink on their right hands to highlight that they had returned from another state before boarding special buses for quarantine centres, the officials said.

The travellers from Kerala, who had registered themselves with the state government's portal, hail from 23 of Odisha's 30 districts.

The highest number of those who returned are from Kandhamal district (382), followed by 283 from Kendrapara and 130 from Ganjam.

The general public and journalists were not allowed inside railway stations at the time of their arrival to avoid any health risk, an official said.

The Odisha government has made arrangements for bringing back more migrant workers from Kerala by special trains. These trains will halt at stipulated railway stations, from where the migrants will go to their villages along with the respective panchayat officials and will be placed under quarantine for 14 days, the official said.

Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik thanked his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan for taking good care of the stranded people during the lockdown and cooperating with the Odisha government to ensure their safe return.

Patnaik also commended the role of the Ganjam district administration and police for the smooth handling of the workers at the Jagannathpur Railway Station. He thanked different government departments for "meticulous planning and precision" in completing the first leg of 'Operation Subha Yatra', the state administration's endeavour to facilitate the return of stranded migrant workers.

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