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."
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.
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.