Piyush Goyal hits out at Mamata, says West Bengal needs 105 trains per day to bring back its migrants

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday hit out the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying the West Bengal government was accepting only 105 trains in a month for migrant labourers stranded in other states while the state needs 105 trains daily and it should speed up making adequate arrangements to receive its own migrants.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday hit out the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying the West Bengal government was accepting only 105 trains in a month for migrant labourers stranded in other states while the state needs 105 trains daily and it should speed up making adequate arrangements to receive its own migrants. The minister expressed concern that there may be more cases of migrants and even children walking for hundreds of kilometres and resorting to other dangerous means if the state doesn't accept them.

He said many migrants want to return to the state and hoped that it would accept them with open arms. "I feel sad that while there is a need for 105 trains/day to bring back migrants to WB, the state is accepting only 105 trains over 30 days. I once again hope for the sake of Bengali brothers and sisters in different parts of the country that WB will accept them back with open arms," Goyal said in a tweet.

"Many migrants want to return to WB and if state doesn't accept them then we may find more cases of migrants and even children walking for hundreds of kms and resorting to other dangerous means. WB should speed up setting up of adequate arrangements to receive their own migrants," he added. Goyal's remark came in response to a tweet by Banerjee in which she said she announced that the state has arranged 105 additional special trains to bring back people stranded in different parts of the country.

"Towards our commitment to helping all our people stuck in different parts of the country and who want to return back to Bengal, I am pleased to announce that we have arranged 105 additional special trains," Banerjee said. "Over the coming days, these special trains will embark from different states for various destinations across Bengal bringing our people back home," she said.

The Chief Minister also shared the details of the trains for West Bengal. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier written a letter to Banerjee saying it was not getting expected support from the state government for return of migrants.

"Central government has facilitated more than two lakh migrants to reach home. Migrants from West Bengal are also eager to reach home. Central government is facilitating but we are not getting the expected support from West Bengal," Shah had said. The Indian Railways is running Shramik special trains in coordination with states to transport migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded at different places to their native places. (ANI)

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