Indian Railways Says No Decision Yet on Requests Received From States to Run Special Trains to Carry Migrant Workers
Railway Board Executive Director RD Vajpayee has mentioned that some zones of the Railways have received requests from State Governments to run special trains to carry migrant workers back to their native States.
New Delhi, May 1: Earlier in the day, the news came that the first train playing migrants amid coronavirus lockdown ran today from Lingampalli, close to Hyderabad, in Telangana to Hatia in Jharkhand. Railway Board Executive Director RD Vajpayee has mentioned that some zones of the Railways have received requests from State Governments to run special trains to carry migrant workers back to their native States. However, according to an ANI update, the Railways have not taken any decision on their requests so far. First Train Ran Amid Lockdown Today From Telangana's Lingampalli to Jharkhand's Hatia to Bring Back Migrants; Watch Video.
There are also some reports which say that a special train to ferry around 1,000 stranded migrants is likely to run from Kerala to Odisha on Friday. The train journey is being facilitated by the Indian Railways based on the request of both the governments. However, there has been no confirmation on the same.
Here's what Railway Board Executive Director RD Vajpayee said on running special trains:
The trains were suspended from March 22, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed the one-day "Janata curfew". The country is in the middle of the second phase of the nationwide lockdown which is expected to be lifted on May 3. However, Chief Ministers of all the states have batted for the extension of the lockdown with some relaxations in non-hotspot areas. No final decision has been made until now.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 01, 2020 03:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).