NE NEWS SERVICE
GANDHINAGAR, MAY 12
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced that 31 trains will operate on Tuesday with 37,200 migrant labourers taking the total tally to more than 3.17 lakhs. Further, the state government has operated 233 labour trains to enable them to reach their native state safely.
https://twitter.com/GogJunagadh/status/1260176803190063105?s=20
Secretary to the CM Ashwani Kumar said, “542 labour trains were operated across India until yesterday. Out of this, Gujarat has operated the maximum number of labour trains, i.e 233, to ensure the safe return of more than 2.80 lakh migrant workers. 31 trains will operate today with 37,200 migrant labourers taking the total tally to more than 3.17 lakhs. The trains have been sent to U.P, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand.”
An important message from a Railway passenger at Sabarmati Jn in Ahmedabad pic.twitter.com/Rx0jZRMhwg
— Piyush Goyal (मोदी का परिवार) (@PiyushGoyal) May 12, 2020
79 labour trains have been operated by Maharashtra , 65 by Punjab, 30 by Telangana, 29 by Karnataka, and 24 by Rajasthan.
आज से शुरु की गयी ट्रेनों में यात्रियों की सुरक्षा हेतु स्टेशन पर प्रवेश से ही सोशल डिस्टेंसिंग, स्क्रीनिंग सहित अन्य सभी सावधानियां बरती जा रही हैं।
सभी की यात्रा सुरक्षित हो, इसके लिये स्टेशन पर से लेकर यात्रा समाप्ति तक रेलवे सभी आवश्यक उपाय कर रही है। pic.twitter.com/3sfQeZEek3
— Piyush Goyal (मोदी का परिवार) (@PiyushGoyal) May 12, 2020
Out of the 233 trains operated by Gujarat, 55 have been operated from Ahmedabad(45 for U.P, 6 for Bihar, 2 each for Bihar and Orissa), 79 from Surat (44 for U.P, 8 for Bihar, 21 for Orissa, 5 for Jharkhand and 1 for Uttarakhand), 17 from Vadodara (15 for U.P and 2 for Bihar), 13 from Rajkot (7 for U.P, 4 for M.P and 2 for Bihar), 7 from Morbi, ( 3 for M.P, 2 each for U.P and Jharkhand) and 6 from Jamnagar(5 for U.P and 1 for Bihar).
Out of the 31 trains that will operate today, 19 trains will leave for U.P, 4 for Bihar, 3 for Orissa, 2 each for Jharkhand and MP and 1 for Uttarakhand. Out of this, 11 trains will be operated from Ahmedabad, 8 from Vadodara, 6 from Surat, 2 from Morbi, 2 from Rajkot, and 1 each from Bharuch, Valsad, Gandhidham and Bhavnagar.
Train carrying 1,000-odd people leaves for Delhi
A special train carrying around 1,000 passengers, most of whom were stranded in Gujarat after lockdown was announced in March, left for Delhi from the Sabarmati railway station here on Tuesday evening.
Twenty-five passengers were not allowed to board as they were found to have high temperature, officials said.
The passengers, who had booked the tickets online, were screened at the main gate of the station to check if they had coronavirus symptoms.
A disinfectant was also sprayed on their luggage.
While special trains for migrant workers are already plying, it had been almost 50 days since a train carrying ordinary passengers left from Ahmedabad, said officials.
The fully air conditioned train will reach Delhi around 8 am on Wednesday after covering a distance of 864 kilometres, stopping at Palanpur, Abu Road, Jaipur and Gurugram on the way.
“During the screening, 25 passengers were found to have high temperature. So we did not allow them to board the train,” said Divisional Railway Manager Dipak Jha.
“Some of them were accompanied by family members who did not wish to go alone, so around 40 persons with confirmed reservations did not board the train,” he said.
For those who could travel on the train, it was a huge relief.
“I came here from Jaipur to place order for gents’ garments and never thought I will have to spend so many days in a small hotel room. I even ran out of money and there was no one in this city whom I could call for help,” said Ronak Pancholi, a trader from Rajasthan.
Arun Kumar from Delhi was visiting Ahmedabad just to meet his old friend when lockdown was announced.
“I had planned to stay here for only two days but got stranded. I felt I had become a burden on my friend and his family. My parents back home could not sleep well all these days. Today I am so much relieved,” he said.
UP, Gujarat govts discriminating against people of Amethi stranded in Ahmedabad: Cong chief
The Congress on Tuesday accused the state governments of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat of discriminating against the workers of Amethi stranded in Ahmedabad and wrote to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on this.
In the letter written by UPCC president Ajay Kumar Lallu and legislature party leader Aradhana Mishra, the Congress alleged that the BJP governments of both the states were discriminating against the people of Amethi who are stranded in Ahmedabad and creating hurdles in their return.
Terming this unfortunate, the two leaders claimed that the people of Amethi wanted to return home but the government of Gujarat was not allowing it and saying that it had not received a go-ahead in this regard from the UP government.
The labourers and workers who registered themselves long ago for returning to Amethi have not gotten the permission till now, the letter said.
The Congress leaders asked the Yogi Adityanath government to immediately give its recommendation so that these stranded people can return safely.
