‘Keep June 24 deadline to send migrants home’

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court told the government Friday that it expected all stranded migrants to be sent home free of cost by the June 24, the deadline set by it.

Organisations helping migrants had complained to the court over the alleged lack of publicity about the schedule of Shramik Special trains launched in May to ferry migrant workers home. Also, there were allegations that migrants had to pay for their journey home.

“We issued appropriate directions to all states (on June 9). All migrant workers have to be transported in 15 days,” the bench of justices Ashok Bhushan, SK Kaul and MR Shah said, reiterating its order through video conferencing. “Our order is very clear that no migrant worker has to pay for the ticket.”

Senior advocate Gopal Shankaranaraynan, who appeared for the National Law Universities Alumni Association, told the court that members of his group were helping migrants stuck in Maharashtra to reach destinations in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. He alleged that there was lack of information on the trains.He complained that migrants were being asked to pay for tickets.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta said the Centre will make available trains within 24 hours of receiving a request.

The court posted the matter on July 8 to monitor implementation of its directions.

States and Union territories received a mandate on June 9 from the court to ensure the return of all workers stranded by the lockdown to their home states and to inform it about welfare programmes, including job opportunities, they plan to offer the returnees.The court also asked states and Union territories to identify migrant workers who have returned and prepare an inventory of the vocational skills they possess and their employment history.