"One-Off Special" Train Moves Migrants From Telangana To Jharkhand

A "one-off special train" to transport migrants stranded by the nationwide lockdown left Telangana for Jharkhand early this morning, carrying 1,200 people from Lingampally in the southern state to Jharkhand's Hatia district. The 24-coach train, which usually seats 72 people in a compartment, contained only 54 people in each in accordance with social distancing guidelines.

Shortly after the train departed the Railways Ministry issued a clarification stating this was a "one-off special train... run on request of the State Government of Telangana".

"This was only a one-off special train and any further trains shall be planned only as per directions of Ministry of Railways and on request from both origin and destination state governments," a railway ministry official said.

Earlier today Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren tweeted to confirm the centre had accepted his request to run a special train to return people to the state, saying: "The central government accepted our demand to bring back workers. We immediately started work to bring them back safely".

"Just as students studying in other states are important to us, similarly migrant workers from the state are equally important. Security of each Jharkhand is your government's priority," Mr Soren added.

The move to send these migrants home by train comes a day after the centre permitted migrants, students and other people who do not have symptoms of coronavirus infection to return home, nearly five weeks after a nationwide lockdown was imposed to break the chain of transmission of the virus.

The centre had earlier allowed Uttar Pradesh to bring back migrants stuck in Haryana, a move that irked Bihar Chief Minister and ruling BJP ally Nitish Kumar, who lashed out at the "injustice" and said interstate movement of people during a lockdown defied its logic.

Jharkhand was also one of the states to question the apparent violation of lockdown rules, under which all rail, road and air traffic had been stopped.

Sources said the decision to allow stranded people to travel came after pressure from within the BJP. There were concerns the migrant crisis could damage the party politically and feedback to this effect was given to party chief JP Nadda during a virtual meeting with MPs and MLAs.

On Monday, the centre told the Supreme Court it was "very much concerned" about migrant labourers and, on Thursday, asked states to appoint nodal bodies and draw up protocols.

Following the centre's order several states, including Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and some southern states, asked for trains, citing distance and the logistics of bus travel. In its order the centre had said people should go by road and states should make transportation arrangements.

Jharkhand was among those states, with the state's health ministry making the request to the centre.

"Jharkhand does not have transport facilities and resources at such a big scale. And arranging resources is not possible. Hence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take cognisance and allow people to return home through special trains without charging any fare," Banna Gupta, the Health Minister, was quoted by news agency PTI.

Mr Gupta also said the state health department was ready to conduct tests for the nine lakh people expected to return. "They will be monitored through Arogya Setu application. Screening and testing facilities will be made at every block and division level. However, it will require a huge quantity of medical kits and infrastructure," he said.

Lakhs of migrant workers and others had been left stranded in states far from their own after the nationwide lockdown imposed on March 25. The centre had said migrants would be looked after, but the reality indicated otherwise, with reports of hunger coming in from various corners of the country

And as economic activity came to a sudden stop during the lockdown, thousands were left without jobs, money, food or shelter and, with interstate transport shut, had no choice but to walk hundreds, often thousands, of kilometres home, triggering a humanitarian crisis.

The second phase of the nationwide lockdown is scheduled to end on May 3. It is unclear, as yet, if the government will extend the lockdown a second time, although some states, including Telangana, have already done so.

With input from PTI