Rajasthan spent Rs 2.69 crore on sending migrants home
Fare for trains carrying students were paid by the respective state governments. Fourteen of the 16 trains with students went to Bihar and the remaining two to Jharkhand. Many students returned home by buses later.
The Rajasthan government has spent Rs 2.69 crore on about 66,000 migrant workers to their home towns since May 1 when the first train left for Patna with 1,187 labourers, said a state government report on Wednesday.
According to the railways guidelines, state governments have to bear 15% of the cost of travel; the railways bears the remaining. As many as 67 trains have gone from different railway stations of Rajasthan until Tuesday evening, the report said. This included 49 for labourers, 16 for students from Kota and three from pilgrims.
Fare for trains carrying students were paid by the respective state governments. Fourteen of the 16 trains with students went to Bihar and the remaining two to Jharkhand. Many students returned home by buses later.
Officials in charge of movement of migrants, students and pilgrims from and to Rajasthan said 86,000 people have come in by trains and 40,000 travelled out on board 31 outbound trains. “23 more trains are scheduled between May 20 and 27; 16 of them will go to Bihar, 3 to UP, 2 to Jharkhand and one each to Kerala and West Bengal,” they said requesting anonymity.
Seven trains each left on Tuesday and Wednesday. Fare of these trains borne by the state government is not included in the Rs 2.69 crore figure. Each of these 14 trains carried 1,400 labourers.
Officials said 22.70 lakh people have registered on the state government’s portal for travel permissions – 10.55 lakh from going out of Rajasthan and 12.15 lakh for returning to the state. About 640,000 people have returned to the state from different states, mostly from Gujarat. The number of people who travelled out of Rajasthan is 179,000, most of them to Uttar Pradesh.
