by: Navjeevan Express

CM: More than 4 lakh migrant workers, including 1.21 lakh from other states, reach their native

NE NEWS SERVICE

GANDHINAGAR, May 7

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Thursday said this government has successfully ensured the safe return of more than 4 lakh migrant workers to their native.

https://twitter.com/CMOGuj/status/1258371469110702083?s=20

Providing details of the same, Secretary to CM Ashwani Kumar said, “The state government in co-ordination with the Centre has successfully sent 1 lakh 21 thousand migrant workers through labour trains to various states like UP, Bihar, Orissa, etc. In addition to that, the state government also provided permission for labourers residing in Surat to return to their native districts/talukas in Gujarat. This includes 5,500 workers through S.T buses, 1.67 lakh workers through private vehicles, and 1.14 lakh workers through their vehicles /other private means by the permission of Surat Municipal Corporation.”

“As many as 80,408 migrant workers hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha were ferried back to their native places in 67 special trains from May 2 till Wednesday night,” Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), Ashwani Kumar, said.

He added that each train transports around 1,200 passengers.

“On Thursday, another 34 trains would leave Gujarat for UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. We will be shifting around 1.20 lakh migrants by Thursday night,” Kumar added.

Twenty of these trains are for UP, five for Odisha, four for Bihar, two trains each for Jharkhand and MP, and one for Chhattisgarh.

These trains would leave from major stations like Ahmedabad, Surat, Bharuch, Mehsana, Nadiad, Jamnagar, Vadodara, and Palanpur, he said.

“We are also helping stranded Gujarat residents in coming back home from other states. Till now, as many as 29,540 stranded students, businessmen, and other travellers have returned from other states,” Kumar said.

Normally, the national transporter said in the guidelines, the ‘Shramik Special’ trains will be run for distances more than 500 km and will not stop at any station before the destination.

Amidst a political slugfest over allegations that the railways were charging migrants for journeys, the railways has said that it was bearing 85 percent of the cost of operating these trains, leaving 15 percent for the states.

While the railways is yet to issue any clarification on its operating costs, officials say that each service is costing the national transporter around Rs 80 lakh.

Also read: Ahmedabad Tamil Sangam urges Gujarat-based Tamils to register online

29,540 stranded Gujaratis return to state

29,540 stranded Gujaratis have been successfully brought back to date. This includes 15,523 from Maharashtra, 4,252 from Rajasthan, 1,412 from Uttar Pradesh, 1,590 from Madhya Pradesh, 1,138 from Karnataka, and others from Delhi, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, etc.

Free food grain distribution for 61 lakh APL-1 cardholders has begun across the length and breadth of Gujarat, except in Ahmedabad, from Thursday. Around 4 lakh beneficiaries have already availed of its benefits by noon. Around 8 lakh people will avail its benefits by 10 pm tonight. The state government is following all the safety protocols during the same.

People of Banaskantha, Patan, Mehsana, and Kutch are safe from the attack of locusts at present. Despite this, the Agriculture Secretary of GOI had a detailed discussion about the same with the ACS of Agriculture Department and concerned District Collectors.

1 more flight for Britons stranded in Ahmedabad next week

The UK government on Thursday announced five further flights to bring home British travellers stranded in India due to the coronavirus lockdown, with four flights scheduled between Amritsar and London and one from Ahmedabad to London next week.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said that once these flights are completed, over 16,500 travellers will have been brought back from India on 64 special flights chartered as part of the government’s 75-million pound repatriation programme during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.

“Our special charter flight programme has been a concerted effort, with daily flight departures to the UK from across India since 8 April – alongside ongoing support to those who remain,” said Lord Tariq Ahmad, Minister of State in the FCO for South Asia and the Commonwealth.

“These further flights bring the number of planes chartered by the government to bring British travellers home from India to 64,” he said.

As with the last round of flights, seats on the planes will be allocated to those who have already registered on the British government’s online booking portal, Corporate Travel Management (CTM). The British High Commission in India said its staff will continue to provide assistance to those waiting to return to the UK.

Jan Thompson, Acting High Commissioner to India, said: “We have helped over 14,000 travellers return to the UK so far on charter flights, and I am pleased to announce a further round to bring back those still waiting to get home. “I strongly encourage anyone who wants to leave to accept seats offered to them. We continue to support all British nationals who require assistance.”

The FCO said its flights are aimed at British nationals and depart from regions of India with the highest demand. The focus is also on helping vulnerable non-British UK residents with Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) or permanent residency where possible. Other visa categories may also be accommodated where possible, the FCO said.

Seats on the charter flights are allocated to those already registered, with confirmations of the flight sent directly alongside information on how to get to airports once the seat is confirmed.

The latest tranche of UK flights comes as the Indian government also began the repatriation process for its nationals stranded abroad, with specially commissioned Air India flights set to fly between London Heathrow Airport and Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru from this weekend.