Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has written to Railways Minister Piyush Goyal requesting that shramik special trains be restarted to ferry migrant workers from Odisha to their workplace in States like Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
In the letter dated September 7, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister said he has received multiple representations from the workers hailing from Ganjam district for the services.
“As we resume our path to normalcy with lifting of the nationwide lockdown, there is a need to resume rail services for migrant workers back to their workplaces. These workers have highlighted their plight due to unavailability of livelihood options and difficulty in travelling back to their workplace,” he said, adding that though some employers are willing to offer bus transport service from Odisha, a long and arduous journey via road is neither feasible nor safe in the monsoon conditions.
The lockdown imposed towards the end of March led to a mass exodus of migrant workers with thousands undertaking the journey on foot. Subsequently, the Railways began running shramik specials May 1 onwards to ferry them to their native States.
The Railways ran 4,615 shramik specials, ferrying over 63 lakh people. The last train was run on July 9.
“Keeping in mind the need to reignite our economy and the plight of migrant workers in Odisha who are in urgent need of livelihood, I request your personal intervention for restarting of the trains at the earliest,” Mr. Pradhan said.
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