Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Monday announced his government will help stranded labourers in the state return to their native places in 40 special trains each day for a week, Hindustan Times reported.
The trains would run from various stations in Hyderabad, as well as from Warangal, Khammam and Damaracherla, among other areas in the state, according to a statement released by the Chief Minister’s Office late on Monday. These trains will travel to states such as Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
“The chief minister spoke to South Central Railway general manager Gajanan Mallya and requested him to arrange for 40 special trains from Tuesday,” the release added.
The state government said that only migrant workers who have registered their names with police stations would be allowed to travel by the special trains. “The details of the travel will be given at the police stations,” the statement added. “The CM [Chief Minister] had instructed the police officers concerned to inform the migrant workers about the travel details and coordinate with them.”
Indian Administrative Service officer Sandeep Sultania and senior Indian Police Service officer Jitendra have been appointed as special officers who will oversee the arrangements made to send back migrant workers.
The announcement came after Rao held a meeting with government officials on Monday to discuss the plight of migrant labourers and their growing impatience over countrywide lockdown to contain the spread of the infection. Struggling to make ends meet amid the lockdown, lakhs of migrant workers have demanded permission to go back to their hometowns.
Meanwhile, the Telangana Cabinet on Tuesday will decide whether the countrywide lockdown will be extended beyond May 17 in the state. It will also discuss the relaxations given by the Centre to various sectors in the green and orange zones.
On May 1, a special train with nearly 1,200 migrant workers onboard left from Lingampally in Telangana to Hatia in Jharkhand. This was the first the first such train arranged for the workers.
Telangana has reported 1,085 coronavirus cases with 29 deaths as of Tuesday, according to the figures released by the health ministry. India has recorded 46,433 coronavirus cases and 1,568 deaths as of Tuesday morning. In the last 24 hours, India has reported 3,900 fresh cases and 195 deaths. This is the highest single-day jump so far.
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