Chhattisgarh CM writes to Piyush Goyal, urges to run 28 special trains for migrants

A day after the Ministry of Home Affairs permitted inter-state movement of stranded persons, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has written to Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal urging him to ply 28 special trains to bring back stranded people to the state.

The Chief Minister welcomed Centre's move to ply special 'Sharmik trains' to facilitate the movement of migrants. Baghel has also requested the government to run trains free of cost on humanitarian grounds. 

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In the letter to the Railways Minister, Baghel highlighted that there are about 1.17 lakh migrants workers from Chhattisgarh are stranded in about 21 states and four Union Territories across the country. Hence, the Chhattisgarh CM has requested for seven trains for Jammu to Raipur-Bilaspur, three trains from Lucknow to Raipur-Bilaspur, two trains from Kanpur to Raipur-Bilaspur, three trains from Delhi to Raipur-Bilaspur, three from Hyderabad-Secunderabad to Raipur-Bilaspur, one from Chennai to Raipur-Bilaspur, one from Bengaluru to Raipur-Bilaspur, two from Pune to Raipur-Bilaspur and one each from Allahabad to Raipur-Bilaspur, Surat-Ahmedabad to Raipur-Bilaspur, Kolkata to Raipur, Vishakhapatnam to Raipur, Jaipur to Raipur, Patna to Durg.

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MHA issues guidelines

In a major development on Friday, the Ministry of Home Affairs has allowed special trains to be operated by the Ministry of Railways (MoR) for movement of stranded migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists and students.

In the notice issued by the Home Ministry on Friday, it has stated that the Ministry of Railways will designate nodal officers for coordinating with states and Union Territories for the movement of stranded persons. It has also informed that the MoR will issue detailed guidelines for sale of tickets, and for social distancing and other measures to be observed at train stations, train platforms and within the trains. 

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The passengers have to be screened by the sending states and only those found asymptomatic would be allowed to travel. The State Governments will be responsible for transporting the stranded persons in batches that can be accommodated in the train to the designated railway Station in sanitized buses following social distancing norms and other precautions. It will be mandatory for every passenger to cover their faces. Meals and drinking water would be provided to the passengers by the sending states at the originating station.

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