Flagging the plight of over 5,000 Sikh pilgrims stranded since the lockdown that began three weeks ago at Gurdwara Hazoor Sahib in Nanded, Maharashtra, and Gurdwara Takht Shri Patna Sahib in Bihar, Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make arrangements such as running special trains to bring them back home to Punjab.

“With the wheat harvesting season starting on April 15, it is important for these people to come back to Punjab as their income for the whole year is dependent on harvesting the crop,” Ms Badal wrote to the Prime Minister on Sunday, suggesting that therailways could be requested to run special trains to bring around 3,000 pilgrims back from Nanded and another 2,000-odd from Bihar.

“The State government of Punjab may be directed to make arrangements for their dispersal to their home towns after due screening and if required, they may be asked to stay in quarantine in their respective villages,” the Minister said.

The pilgrims had been in quarantine for over three weeks, but to be safe, they could be scanned again and those not showing any symptoms may be allowed to board the trains, Ms Badal proposed.

“The pilgrims have been away from their families for more than a month and have been surviving on the food and shelter provided by the gurdwaras. Many of them are accompanied by young children and elderly parents,” she said, adding that the extended ‘forced stay’ away from their homes was causing them a lot of hardship.