Karnataka To Restart Trains Taking Migrant Workers To Their Home States After Outrage

The trains are expected to run from May 8 to 15 (Representational)

Karnataka, roasted over stopping the trains for stranded migrant labourers, has said it will restart the service tomorrow. The government has written to nine state governments, seeking their consent to send the migrants back. The list includes Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, West Bengal and Rajasthan. The trains are expected to run from May 8 to 15.

The state had stopped the week-long twice-a-day train service yesterday, citing a beginning in its construction activities.

Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa had said around 1 lakh migrants had left and those who remain would be needed to work at the construction sites.  Other BJP leaders said the move will help restore the state's economy and achieve a "resurgent Karnataka".

The rollback came after the Congress accused the BJP-led government of forcing the migrants to stay in the state and questioned if they can be treated as bonded labourers.

Under the hashtag #MigrantLivesMatter, Congress's former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tweeted: "The decision to go back or to stay back should be with the labourers & not with the government. Labourers are free to choose health or work. Who will take responsibility if something goes wrong? Are we still practicing bonded labour?"

Indicating that the government's Rs 1,600 crore relief package for those in distress because of the lockdown, including construction workers, is not enough, Siddaramaiah tweeted:

The decision to go back or to stay back should be with the labourers & not with the government. Labourers are free to choose health or work. Who will take responsibility if something goes wrong?

Are we still practicing bonded labour?

For me #MigrantLivesMatter!!

3/4

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 6, 2020

The Centre has so far run 171 trains to ferry migrants stranded in many corners of the country. Sources said 56 Shramik Special trains were run yesterday.

Since the countrywide lockdown was announced on March 25, migrant labourers finding themselves out of a job shelter and food overnight, have been trying to make their way home on foot. Not everyone reached.

Even now, with trains running, many are trying to walk it home. Others ae using illegal trucks and sometimes even cycles.