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Maharashtra Prime Minister Uddhav Thackeray urged the Center on Sunday (April 3) not to charge the railway fee to migrant workers returning home due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
CM Thackeray tweeted the request on Sunday night mentioning that the workers are from an extremely poor environment and that the central government must take this into account. “They have been financially affected by the new coronavirus pandemic. Taking a humanitarian approach, the Railways should not charge them the ticket fee, “he said.
The government also made clear that no special train for stranded migrant workers will leave Mumbai, as the city has multiple containment zones. It should be noted that Maharashtra has been sending hundreds of migrant workers home on special trains running from Nashik and Bhiwandi in recent days. There are thousands of migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab, Karnataka, West Bengal, and Chhattisgarh who are stranded in different parts of Maharashtra.
According to the Maharashtra government, around five lakh workers have been sheltered at different shelters across the state over the past 40 days, and the state government will adequately care for these migrant workers until they are sent home.
Meanwhile, CM Thackeray also ordered officials to update the list of migrant workers in foster homes and to be ready in case the Center starts special trains from Pune, Mumbai or Thane to bring migrant workers home.
Several migrants have been stranded in places across the country since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the national shutdown on March 25 to curb the spread of the coronavirus in India. Many migrants were seen even trying to walk home hundreds of kilometers to reach their home.
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