Piyush Goyal takes aim at Uddhav Thackeray over Shramik Special Trains
Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday came down heavily on Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government and said it was responsible for the plight of migrant labourers in the state. Goyal said that Maharashtra was experiencing "total collapse of administrative machinery with no political leadership".
Goyal said that though the Railway Ministry was ready to run trains to take migrant labourers back to their states, the inaction of Maharashtra Government meant that enough number of trains could not be run.
On Tuesday, Piyush Goyal tweeted that Railway Ministry planned to run 145 Shramik Special Trains but only 13 could depart due to less number of travellers. Goyal drew attention to the fact that hordes of migrant labourers gathered in different parts of Mumbai but trains were, ironically, empty.
I request Maharashtra Government to fully cooperate in ensuring that the distressed migrants are able to reach their homes and bring passengers to Stations in time, and not cause further delays. It will affect the entire network and planning.
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) May 26, 2020
Goyal said that unless Maharashtra Government provided information such as destination, stoppages, number of passengers and their distribution in trains, it was not possible to run these trains. He appealed to Maharashtra Government for co-operation.
Railways also rubbished Maharashtra Government's claim that the ministry provided 30-40 trains while the state had asked for 80.
Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said that 65 trains had to be cancelled as Maharashtra government could not arrange to bring passengers to the railway station.