Dharmendra Pradhan writes to railway minister, seeks Shramik trains to ferry migrant workers from Odisha
The Centre had begun operation of Shramik Special trains’ from May 1 for transportation of stranded migrant labourers during the lockdown period. Railways has said more than 63 lakh migrants were ferried in over 4,600 Shramik Special trains and the last Shramik train ran on July 9.
Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday wrote to railway minister Piyush Goyal seeking to restart Shramik Special trains from Odisha to states like Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra to ferry migrant workers who had returned to their home state during the lockdown back to their workplaces.
“As we resume our path to normalcy with lifting of the nation-wide lockdown, there is a need to resume rail services for migrant workers back to their workplaces. These workers have highlighted their plight due to unavailability of livelihood options and difficulty in travelling back to their workplace for rejoining work,” Pradhan wrote.
“I am informed that even though some employers are willing to offer bus transport service from Odisha, due to the prevailing monsoon conditions, a long and arduous journey via road is neither feasible nor safe for such long distances. Keeping in mind the need to reignite our economy and the plight of migrant workers in Odisha, who are in urgent need of livelihood. I request your personal intervention for restarting of Shramik Special Trains from Odisha to states like Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra at the earliest,” he added.
The Centre had begun operation of Shramik Special trains’ from May 1 for transportation of stranded migrant labourers during the lockdown period. Railways has said more than 63 lakh migrants were ferried in over 4,600 Shramik Special trains and the last Shramik train ran on July 9.
According to officials aware of the development, the ministry may soon announce additional special trains from Odisha to meet the state government’s demand.
“No other state has requested to run Shramik Trains as yet. But in addition to the 40 pairs of trains announced recently more regular trains are expected to be run from Odisha to meet the demand,” the official said requesting anonymity.
The Indian Railways will deploy 80 special trains from September 12, in addition to the 230 special trains currently operating, the railway ministry announced on Saturday. The reservation for the special trains will begin from September 10.
Chairman and CEO of the railway board VK Yadav had last week said that a key factor in starting the 80 new trains were migrant workers returning to their places of work. Yadav said the occupancy of the trains has gone up to 80-85% now and about a dozen trains are low occupancy.
“Many of these trains are running in reverse direction of the Shramik Special trains. So, they are leaving their homes and going towards their workplaces. The occupancy of 12 trains is very less among the 230 trains, so we are running them, but will reduce the number of coaches. We are monitoring the occupancy of trains and will run more trains as per demand,” Yadav had said.
To be clear, the ministry had clarified that all regular trains will continue to remain suspended but additional special trains will be operated based on the requirement.
