Maha, Centre spar over special trains
NEW DELHI: Railways minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday sought details of migrants registered with the Maharashtra government so that the railways can run 125 special trains from Monday as planned.
In an address to the state on Sunday, Thackeray said that while he had demanded 80 migrant special trains per day for the state to ferry migrants home, it was getting only 40.
Taking a dig at Thackeray, Goyal said the Railways was ready to send as many trains as required to states, provided they do not “return empty”. ¨I hope that these trains will not have to leave empty after arriving at the station like it has happened earlier. I would like to assure you that the trains you need will be available,” tweeted Goyal, referring to earlier occasions when migrants did not board special trains.
“Sadly, it has been 1.5 hours but Maharashtra Govt. has been unable to give required information about tomorrow’s planned 125 trains to GM of Central Railway. Planning takes time & we do not want train to stand empty at the stations, so it’s impossible to plan without full details,” Goyal tweeted late evening.
Goyal informed that the Railways will operate 125 special Shramik trains. He had asked Thackeray to share the list of migrants with their relevant details like - originating and destination stations, the number of migrants travelling, medical certificates with the Centre within an hour
The Centre has come under fire after the lockdown twomonth lockdown triggered a mass migration of workers, many of them on foot and bicycles.
Goyal in another tweet said he hoped for Maharashtra’s cooperation for the benefit of migrant labourers. “I hope that the Government of Maharashtra will fully cooperate in the efforts made for the benefit of migrant labourers,” Goyal said.
Earlier, Shramik Special trains became a bone of contention between the Centre and states like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan with the minister pointing out that these governments were allowing fewer migrant trains to arrive.