As many 1296 migrants boarded Shramik special trains to Amethi in Uttar Pradesh Monday, and ten persons of Murshidabad in West Bengal were sent through the Shramik special train from Sirhind, Punjab.(Express Photo)

A NUMBER of migrant labourers, who were shown to yet to board Shramik special trains for their native states, said that they had already reached their homes when the UT administration called them to confirm if they were boarding the train or not.

“Yesterday, frantic calls were made to people who had enrolled themselves for going to Bihar but several replied saying that they had already reached their homes. Many also declined to go back to their native states. As per the official record, almost 75,000 people had enrolled themselves for going to Bihar and UP apart from other states. We do not know how they reached their houses; though some of them claimed that they had reached through the special trains,” said sources.

As many as 50 to 100 people said that they had already reached their homes. Calls were made to people registered for going to Champaran and Begusarai Barauni districts in Bihar.

“We call the people who have registered themselves, a day before their scheduled train. We were also stunned to learn that several had already reached their homes. Interestingly, they said that they had done so through the Shramik special trains which moved from Chandigarh Railway Station. As the fact came to light, we informed senior officers monitoring the entire process,” said a member of the registration staff.

When contacted, CEO Yashpal Garg, said, “Indeed, many people being shown yet to board the trains have reached their homes. Thousands of people are coming to ISBT-43 for screening, medical examination every day. There are chances that a few of them managed to enter the screening centre and boarded the trains. We are also a adopting sympathetic attitude towards people who are handicapped, old aged etc. We don’t check their particulars. When we realise that some seats are vacant, we give chances to other people pending in the list. We have to send a certain number of passengers in the Shramik trains. No one reached their homes marching on foot.”

Almost one lakh people had registered their names for going to their native states including UP, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Himachal, West Bengal, UT Leh, Kashmir etc, and as many 23,409 people have been sent to their native states so far.

Meanwhile, as many 1296 migrants boarded Shramik special trains to Amethi in Uttar Pradesh Monday, and ten persons of Murshidabad in West Bengal were sent through the Shramik special train from Sirhind, Punjab. They were transported to Sirhind in CTU bus. On Tuesday, a Shramik train will go to Rai Bariely in UP. “The further plan of Shramik special trains from May 19 is yet to come,” said a senior officer.