Migrant crisis: Mamata announces 105 special trains in 30 days; Piyush Goyal says ‘Bengal needs 105 / day’ | India News

NEW DELHI: Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said Thursday that several migrants wanted to return to West Bengal and warned that if the state government did not accept them there could be several more cases of people walking hundreds of kilometers to reach their homes.
The Union minister responded to West Bengal chief ministers Mamata Banerjee, who took to Twitter to announce that his government had organized an additional 105 special trains to take migrants home.
“Regarding our commitment to help all of our people trapped in different parts of the country and wishing to return to Bengal, I am pleased to announce that we have organized an additional 105 special trains,” Mamata Banerjee said on Twitter.
He also said that “in the coming days, these special trains will ship from different states to various destinations in Bengal and will take our people home.”

Piyush Goyal responded to his tweet and said: “I am sad that although there is a need for 105 trains / day to bring migrants back to the World Bank, the State only accepts 105 trains in 30 days. Once again I hope for the good from Bengali brothers and sisters in different parts of the country, that WB will accept with open arms. ”
In another tweet, the Union minister warned that the state government’s reluctance to recover migrants could force them to resort to desperate means to get home.
“Many migrants want to return to the BM and if the state does not accept them, then we can find more cases of migrants and even children who walk hundreds of kilometers and resort to other dangerous means. BM should accelerate the creation of adequate arrangements to receive their own immigrants. “he tweeted.
Previously, the railway minister had asked all states to allow the operation of special migrant trains so that the stranded can get home.
His appeal came a day after Union Interior Minister Amit Shah wrote to Mamata Banerjee to allow such trains to run.
Amit Shah has said that the West Bengal government does not allow trains with migrant workers to reach the state, which can create further difficulties for workers.
In a letter to Mamata, the Union Interior Minister had said that not allowing trains to arrive in West Bengal is “injustice” to the state’s migrant workers.
The West Bengal government and the Center have been engaged in a war of words on managing the coronavirus crisis and enforcing the Covid blockade.