Injustice with migrants in W Bengal, says Shah

NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: Union home minister Amit Shah has written to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee that the Centre was not receiving the “expected support” from her government in helping migrant workers reach home, an allegation the Trinamool Congress (TMC) rubbished as “outright lies”.

The state government is doing “injustice” to Bengali migrant workers stranded across the country by not allowing “Shramik” (worker) trains run by the railways to reach the state, Shah wrote in the letter, according to ministry of home affairs (MHA) officials.

Shah said the Centre had already facilitated the return home of more than 200,000 work-ers, adding that migrants from West Bengal employed elsewhere too were eager to go back home. “

West Bengal government is not allowing trains with migrants reaching the state. This is injustice with WB migrant labourers. This will crehardship ate further for them, ”Shah wrote.

States with large migrant populations such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have received the maximum number of workers returning home on Shramik trains.