Karnataka back on ‘track’ with special migrant trains
Earlier cancellation of trains created a furore over ‘pro-builder’ bias
So far, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh are ready to receive migrants
BENGALURU:
In yet another flip-flop barely 2 days after it stoutly defended its move to cancel the proposed special trains for migrants, the Karnataka government is ‘onboard’ again. The government has decided to start train services again for migrant workers from Friday which will run till May 15. As of now, only two states — Madhya Pradesh and Bihar — have agreed to receive the migrants while the government awaits consent from Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tripura and Manipur.
According to sources, the government has sought two trains each to Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura and Madhya Pradesh, everyday from May 8 till May 15.
On Thursday, a letter of request was sent to these states by Revenue Department principal secretary N Manjunatha Prasad, who is also the nodal officer for migrants.
Interestingly, former minister and Congress leader Krishna Byre Gowda had on Thursday shot a video in which he was seen interviewing migrants from North India who had started walking back home after the Karnataka government stopped train services. In a tweet, he claimed that he had spoken to the Chief Secretary to intervene in the matter.
On Thursday, Labour Department prinicipal secretary Captian P Manivannan replied to a tweet thus: “Ma’am, as per the info, the Government of Bihar is ready to take 1 train as of now, and hence one train has been scheduled. More trains will depend on the accepting state and Railway traffic. But it’s planned to resume the daily running of trains from tomorrow.”
Earlier, SWR’s DRM Vijaye E had pointed out that as per the Standard Operating Procedure issued for arranging transport for stranded passengers, the roles of sending and receiving state governments and the Railways are well defined and clearly demarcated.
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