Nearly 1,200 Bihari migrants in Rajasthan to leave for Patna in special train

Nearly 1,200 Bihari migrants stranded in Rajasthan due to the coronavirus lockdown will board a special train from Jaipur to Patna on Friday night. An official of the North Western Railway said only the migrants identified by the state government will be allowed to board the train after proper screening by medical teams.

On Friday, the Ministry of Home Affairs gave permission to the railways to run special trains for migrants and those stranded in different parts of the country. Thousands of migrants were stranded in places across the country since the lockdown was enforced on March 25, many even attempting to walk home hundreds of kilometres away.

"Only those who have been identified by the state government will be travelling in the special train. The migrants will be brought to the railway station by state government officials and they will board the train after screening," NWR CPRO Abhay Sharma said. He said nearly 1,200 migrants are likely to travel in the train where the seating arrangement will be in accordance with social distancing norms.

The schedule of the next train will be decided as per the requirement of the state government, the official said. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot welcomed the Centre's decision of running special trains to ferry migrants to their native places. In a video-conference meeting late Friday night, Gehlot asked officials to make all arrangements for easy and quick movement of migrants. He said his government is constantly coordinating with the Centre and governments in other states to facilitate the movement of migrants.

He asked officials to ensure that elderly, pregnant women and children are sent to their native place on priority. Migrants who want to travel by their private vehicles should be issued passes in close coordination with the states concerned, the chief minister said. Chief Secretary DB Gupta said labourers and migrants will be able to travel in special trains by paying fare of the prescribed ordinary category to the Railways. The chief minister also asked officials to ensure strict compliance of the third phase of the coronavirus lockdown. "Guidelines issued by the Centre and the state should not be violated under any circumstances," he said.  About 11.56 lakh migrants have registered online for inter-state travel, an official said.

He said more than 38,000 workers and migrants have been sent to their native places. Of these, 27,000 workers have been sent to Madhya Pradesh, 6,197 to Punjab, 2,386 to Haryana, 977 to Gujarat and the rest to other states. About 20,000 workers have been brought to Rajasthan from other states. Out of these, 13,547 migrant workers have come from Gujarat, 4,166 from Madhya Pradesh and 424 from Punjab, Additional Chief Secretary, Industries and Migrant Workers Problem Resolution Committee Chairman, Subodh Agarwal said. The Uttar Pradesh government has been permitted to take back its 6,911 workers stuck in Rajasthan. The movement of these workers will start from Friday night and will be completed by May 3, he said. Agarwal said the state government is also trying to make arrangements for transportation of pilgrims of various states stranded in Ajmer. A total of 870 pilgrims have been sent to their homes so far. Now, about 3000 pilgrims are left in Ajmer.PTI AG SDA DPB DPB