Migrants pay to return home, states ask Center to pay train fare bill

A special train carrying more than 800 migrant workers arrives at the Charbagh railway station in Lucknow from Nashik on Sunday. (AND ME)

MANY MIGRANTS who board special Shramik trains to return to their home states are paying for their tickets. While 31 trains have run so far and more are expected in the next 15 days, Maharashtra’s chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and Rajasthan’s deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot demanded Sunday that the Center and Railways take over the expenses for humanitarian reasons, since the workers already faced economic difficulties. .

When contacted, the Chairman of the Railway Board, VK Yadav, said that it was a conscious call not to operate these trains free of charge, so that only those who intend to travel would be transported. “The problem is that once you do free services, everyone is eligible to travel. So who comes to the stations? Those who travel would become a problem to track. This service is only for stranded migrant workers, students, etc., and they are allowed to travel only after a thorough evaluation. These trains are not for the general public, “Yadav told The Indian Express. “So we are charging a nominal fee.”

Separately, in a letter to the state’s top secretaries, the Union’s secretary of the interior, Ajay Bhalla Sunday, sought to clarify that the facilitation of transportation was only for those “distressed” people who were stranded after leaving their workplaces before closing. “… (does not) extend to those categories of people, who otherwise normally reside in places other than native places for work purposes, etc. and who wish to visit their native places in the normal course,” he said.

In its guidelines released Saturday, Railways said it would deliver the tickets to the home states and that the state would “collect the ticket fee” and deliver them to Railways.

Jharkhand, who paid Rs 5.4 lakh to the Kota administration for a train to bring the students back from Kota, said he had not yet paid the 1,200 migrant workers who boarded the first Lingampalli Shramik Special Train in Telangana to Hatia in Jharkhand. “Initially, there was some confusion about whether to pay the states or the Railways. On May 2, an SOP issued by the Ministry of Railways makes this clear. He says passengers should be charged for the fares, ”said Jharkhand chief secretary Sukhdev Singh.

Point 11 (c) of the SOP of the railroads in the sale of tickets says: “The authority of the local state government will deliver the tickets to the passengers authorized by them and will collect the fare of the ticket and will deliver the amount to the railroads.”
Railroad Board President Yadav said states were testing many models of financing services. “We see three or four models emerge. In many places, workers’ employers have given them money to go home; In some places, NGOs have sponsored. There are states of origin that are paying, and then there are states of destination that pay the states of origin. The services have just started, so the process will be established slowly, ”he said.

Maharashtra CM Thackeray, however, said on Sunday: “Migrant workers can return to their homes after many days. As their financial situation has deteriorated, the Railways should not charge any ticket fees for humanitarian reasons. ” When contacted, Anil Parab, Minister of Transportation, Maharashtra, told The Indian Express that the ticket fee collected from migrant workers was turned over to the Railways. “The central government should take a call on the issue of tariffs and ask the Indian Railway not to charge money for running the Shramik specials. It will simplify the entire process and clear up the confusion within states about who should bear the cost of moving migrants, “said Parab.

Shramik’s special trains can run at a two-thirds capacity and for individual tours, meaning they are sent to their empty places of origin. Instead of around 1,600, each train can carry 1,200. “Obviously there is no question of profit here. In fact, we are serving complimentary food and water. I have instructed that no matter how many bottles of water a person requires, we must give them. We are giving soap, disinfectant, etc. We are not running these services to earn money, ”said Yadav, chairman of the Railroad Board.

Railways are charging a distance-free sleep rate without air conditioning, along with a super-fast charge of Rs 30 and a reserved bunk charge of Rs 20 collected on each ticket. Yadav explained that this was defined in the system for train operations.

On the train that left for Puri from Surat on Saturday, each passenger had to pay Rs 710, while those who traveled to the Agra Cantonment from Ahmedabad paid Rs 250 per ticket. Surat District Collector Dhaval Patel said Odiya community leaders were contacted and asked to list those who wanted to travel along with their contact details. “The community also collected the amount of the travel fee and gave us the list. An officer of the rank of Associate Collector went with the community leader to the railway station and collected the 1,200 tickets and paid the amount of the fee to the railway authorities, ”he said.

In Nashik, 332 migrants housed in foster homes who left for Bhopal on Friday received Rs 250 per ticket. Sawant Kochle, who worked as a driver in Mumbai and was returning with his wife and two children, said he only had 500 rupees left and paid it as a fee. Nashik collector Suraj Mandhare said: “We ensure that migrants do not face any problems in the foster home. But by paying the fare for their trip back home, they travel with dignity. ”

In another Shramik Special left by Bhiwandi to go to Gorakhpur, workers were asked to pay Rs 800 for the fare, while the cost of the ticket was Rs 745. One of those workers, Laxman Gawd (36) said that he had asked his family to return to Gorakhpur. He returned some money back a couple of days ago, which was helpful in paying for the ticket. “They loaned the money in interest. But now I’m glad I asked for it, “he said.

(With contributions from Asad Rehman in Lucknow)

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