Will pay for fares of migrant workers taking trains from Rajasthan: Gehlot

The Rajasthan government on Monday announced that it would bear the rail fare of all migrant labourers who got stranded in the state because of the lockdown restrictions.

The Ashok Gehlot-led government’s decision followed Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s barb against the Centre accusing it of forcing migrant workers to pay for tickets amid the pandemic. She urged Congress workers to raise funds to pay for the migrants’ rail fare.

“On directions of Sonia Gandhi, we have decided that the state government will pay the rail fare of migrant workers going from Rajasthan to other states,” chief minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted on Monday.

The state government has already paid for three special trains – Jaipur to Patna, Nagaur to Hatia (Jharkhand) and Ajmer and Dankuni (West Bengal) – that were run by the north-western railway (NWR).

An officer of the NWR’s commercial wing said the Rajasthan government paid Rs 473,760 for the Jaipur to Patna train, which carried 1,180 migrant workers on Friday midnight; Rs 834,000 for Nagaur to Hatia train that carried 905 passengers on Sunday; and Rs 825,660, which transported 1,186 pilgrims stranded in Ajmer to Dankuni, West Bengal, on Monday.

“We aren’t dealing with individuals. We’re dealing with the state government and they’re responsible for arranging the fare, whether from the state exchequer or via donations,” the NWR officer said, requesting anonymity.

Each of these special trains had 24 coaches – four general class, 18 sleeper coaches and two guard vans – and carried 54 passengers in each coach against the normal capacity of 72 due to the strict enforcement of social distancing norms. No passenger is allowed on the trains’ return journey.

The Centre allowed special trains for stranded workers, pilgrims and students on Friday after requests from state governments.

For special trains to carry students from Kota, the coaching hub of the country for medical and engineering aspirants, to Jharkhand and Bihar, the respective state governments paid the fare, said Pankaj Sharma, divisional railway manager (DRM), Kota.

“We got the payment through the Rajasthan government before departure of each of the six special trains that we’ve have run since Friday,” he said. “The Bihar and Jharkhand governments made the payment to the Rajasthan government.”

Around 7,000 students from the two eastern states left Kota on six special trains till Monday evening. Two special trains left for Jharkhand on Friday and Saturday, and four to Bihar, each carrying an average of 1,200 students, over the past four days.