Cong offers to pay train fares for pilgrims

NEW DELHI: A day after Congress president Sonia Gandhi asked all state units to pay the train fare of stranded migrant workers who are headed home, the party Tuesday extended the offer to students and pilgrims.

Congress general secretary

KC Venugopal, wrote to state units, on this. They were told to make sure such people aren’t required to pay the one-way fare if they cannot afford to do so.

Pradesh Congress Committees will form advisory committees to frame guidelines and oversee implementation of the initiative, including outreach, identification and reimbursement of beneficiaries besides coordinating with officers appointed by state governments.

Through another circular, Venugopal also directed the state units to establish help desks to enable the stranded migrant workers to approach them.

The state units were also directed to deploy teams at each railway station to coordinate the departure of migrant workers and make payments to the railway authorities. In another move, the Congress sought voluntary contributions from the public to meet the travel expenses of migrant labourers.

Gandhi’s announcement on Monday that her party would bear the cost of travel of migrant workers who, the Congress alleged were being forced to pay the train fare, triggered a war of words with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which said the railways was paying 85% and states the remainder.

Gandhi Tuesday called a meeting of the chief ministers of Congress-ruled states and senior leaders on Wednesday to discuss issues related to the pandemic and the economy.