Madhya Pradesh, Bihar And Chhattisgarh To Bear Fare Of Migrants Returning Home, BJP Clarifies Stand On Train Fare After Criticism

Here's what states are offering to help migrants returning home through train

Representational Picture (AFP)

New Delhi, May 4: Even as the travel fare of stranded migrant labourers and students have stormed a political debate but the good news is that states such as Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Chhattisgarh have announced that the government will bear the cost of the train fare. According to the schedule of power (SOP), the railways said the responsibility for food, security, health scanning, providing tickets to the stranded will be with the state from which the train is originating. The railways will be providing one meal to passengers whose journey will be of 12 hours or more. The set of guidelines issued by Railways for Shramik Special trains being run to ferry the migrants stranded across the country mentioned that trains will ply only if they have 90 per cent occupancy and the "states should collect the ticket fare". This move had drawn a lot of criticism from Opposition parties. In a span of few days, Congress President Sonia Gandhi announced that the state units of the party across the country will bear the travel expense of the migrant workers returning to their states, opposition leader in Bihar from Rashtriya Janata Dal Tejashwi Yadav also offered the fare of 50 trains to the Bihar government to bring back stranded migrants. Here is what other states are offering. Earlier Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Aaj Tak had criticised the Centre's directive asking states to pay for the transport of migrant workers. However, the Chhattisgarh government has now extended the gesture to pay train fare for labourers. Similarly, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan led government in Madhya Pradesh will also bear teh cost of train tickets for all labourers returning to the state. While Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar clarified students who are returning to the state by special trains will not be charged any fare but migrant labourers will be reimbursed the full expenses and get an additional aid of Rs 500 each. It means each worker will be getting a minimum of Rs 1,000, he added. It will come to them once they complete the quarantine stay after being taken to respective block headquarters for 21 days. Meanwhile, BJP has cleared the air over fares related to migrant labourers returning back amid the lockdown and reiterated its position. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra  said railways has subsidised 85 per cent of ticket fare for special trains being run to transport migrant workers and the state government has to pay the remaining 15 per cent. The BJP leader further clarified that for each 'Shramik Express', special trains being run for migrants, about 1,200 tickets to the destination are handed by the railways to the state government concerned, Patra said.

(With inputs from PTI)