In recent developments, Karnataka has allowed migrants working in the state of Maharashtra to finally come back to their hometown. Karnataka withdrew its rejection to accept the migrants as a train left from Thane for Kalaburgi in the southern state on Monday.
So far, sixty-six trains have left Maharashtra with 73,132 passengers. Maharashtra is one of the largest states in the country which acts as a host to different immigrants from all over the country. A large bulk of these trains took back migrant workers to the state of UP and Bihar from Maharashtra. According to sources, there was a huge rush of passengers in the MSRTC depots which includes Parel and Nalasopara. MSRTC picked up and dropped over 11,868 migrants. As many as 21,714 passengers have been ferried across borders for free.
According to the police personnel, the migrant workers are finding it hard to sustain themselves during the lockdown and hence are looking for ways to go back home. ST buses picked up several migrants from national highways and ferried them to the Madhya Pradesh border free of cost. Meanwhile, the authorities are bombarded with applications from the migrants to go back to their homes. Around 1.9 lakh people have filed applications in Palgarh district alone that caused the system to fail for a couple of days.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had earlier extended the lockdown on May 1, issuing an order to allow the movement of migrant workers, tourists, students and others individuals stranded at different locations by Sramik special trains, the cost of which would be borne 85 per cent by the Centre and 15 per cent by the states. Despite the Centre facilitating the state governments to run Shramik special trains, the migrant workers have been left to fend for themselves with no money or means of transport and are forced to set on foot to distant places. The news of horrors faced by the migrant workers somehow does not seem to subside even with the ongoing provisions made for them in the midst of COVID-19.
Share
Tweet
