Centre counters Uddhav's 'not enough Shramik trains' claim; demands migrant list in 1 hour

Seeking details of migrants registered with the Maharashtra government, Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, on Sunday, has tweeted at CM Uddhav Thackeray. He informed that on Monday, Railways will operate 125 special Shramik trains. Asking Thackeray to share the list of migrants with their relevant details like - originating and destination stations, the number of migrants travelling, medical certificates, Goyal demanded that the list be furnished to the Centre within an hour.

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Goyal demands list of migrants from Maharashtra

Furthermore, he took a dig at the MVA government stating that 'hopefully migrants won't have to return empty-handed, like before'. He reassured that the Centre will provide as many trains as required by the Maharashtra government. This is in retaliation to Thackeray's claim that the Centre was not providing enough Shramik trains for its 20 lakh registered migrants, who wished to go back home. 

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Thackeray slams Centre on trains

Earlier in the day, Thackeray had slammed the Centre for not providing enough trains for the migrants to return home inspite of several requests. He said that the Centre had not made any arrangements for the migrants while imposing the nation-wide lockdown. Requesting the Centre to allow 30-40 trains for the migrants, he added that the Centre's share of the train ticket cost is yet to be received.

"We never wanted the migrants to leave, but they wanted to return to their native places. The state government had initially requested the Central government to make arrangements for the migrants' return, however, they did not take any step. Once the situation got worse, the action was initiated," Thackeray said. 

The CM added, "Maharashtra government will bear all the expenses of the migrants travelling back to their homes. I am confident that the Centre will pay as they promised. Till now, more than 7 lakh migrants have left Maharashtra. I request the Centre to provide 30-40 Shramik trains for the migrants."

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Railways eases Shramik train rules 

The Centre has issued a new order empowering the Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Home Affairs to decide on the movement of Shramik trains. According to the revised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), the consent of receiving states is no longer necessary. This move was reportedly necessitated after several states blamed each other for not accepting Shramik train requests. As of date, the Centre has operated 2818 Shramik Special trains till date, transporting over 36 lakh migrants home.

Maharashtra govt allows 25 take-offs & 25 domestic flight landings daily from Mumbai