Ready To Send 125 Shramik Special Trains Provided Maharashtra Govt Shows Support: Piyush Goyal

CM Uddhav Thackeray had said that while he had demanded 80 migrant special trains per day for the state to ferry migrants home, it was getting only 40.

Photo: Getty Images

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal have got into war of wards over Shramik Special trains. In a series of Twitter exchanges on Sunday, Goyal took a dig at Maharashtra CM saying that Railways commits to provide as many trains as required to states, provided they do not "return empty". Referring to earlier occasions when migrants did not board making train return empty, Goyal said, "I hope that these trains will not have to leave empty after arriving at the station like it has happened earlier. I would like to assure you that the trains you need will be available." His statements came after the Shiv Sena chief accused the Railways of not providing enough trains to the state despite demand. In an address to the state on Sunday, state CM Uddhav Thackeray said that while he had demanded 80 migrant special trains per day for the state to ferry migrants home, it was getting only 40. In his address, Thackeray also said that the state has paid Rs 85 crore so far towards these trains. In response to Shiv Sena Chief's allegations, Goyal said that we are ready to provide 125 Shramik Special trains to Maharashtra. "Since you have said that you have a list ready that is why I am requesting you to please provide all information like from where the train will run, the list of passengers according to the trains, their medical certificate and where the train is to go, to the General Manager of Central Railway within the next hour, so that we can plan the time of trains."

उद्धव जी, आशा है आप स्वस्थ है, आपके अच्छे स्वास्थ्य के लिए शुभेच्छा। कल हम महाराष्ट्र से 125 श्रमिक स्पेशल ट्रेन देने के लिए तैयार है। अपने बताया की आपके पास श्रमिकों की लिस्ट तैयार है। इसलिए आपसे अनुरोध है:

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) May 24, 2020

In the tweets following this, Goyal went on to continue with politics of words saying that it's been more than hour but the state government has failed to provide required information for tomorrow's journey.

Sadly, it has been 1.5 hours but Maharashtra Govt. has been unable to give required information about tomorrow's planned 125 trains to GM of Central Railway. Planning takes time & we do not want train to stand empty at the stations, so it's impossible to plan without full details

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) May 24, 2020

Earlier, Shramik Special trains became a bone of contention between the Centre and states like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan with the minister pointing out that these governments were allowing fewer migrant trains to arrive. The state CMs too came out all guns blazing and denied the allegations on Twitter.