Blame game goes on as Congress- sponsored buses for migrants yet to reach Ghaziabad

Ghaziabad: As the political blame game between the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh and the Congress continued over the latter’s proposal to provide 1,000 buses to

Ghaziabad: As the political blame game between the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh and the Congress continued over the latter’s proposal to provide 1,000 buses to ferry migrant workers, transport department officials in Ghaziabad said no buses have arrived till late Tuesday evening.

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Rajiv Tyagi, spokesperson for the All India Congress Committee (AICC), said the buses were parked at Uncha Nagla border near Agra. He said the fleet includes private buses and some from Rajasthan Roadways. “The buses have still not been given clearance to enter UP. The delay is due to laxity of the BJP’s state government and they seem to be worried about Priyanka Gandhi’s (Congress’ general secretary) initiative of sending buses for helping migrant workers. She had been trying to get trains to UP for workers and then she decided to send buses,” Tyagi said.

Under the proposal, 500 buses were scheduled to arrive in Ghaziabad and Noida by 5pm on Tuesday. However, the buses did not arrive till Tuesday night. Local Congress leaders who had gathered at Sahibabad depot also waited for hours for the buses to arrive but returned when not a single bus reached Sahibabad.

Transport department officials waiting at Sahibabad depot and Indirapuram said they will take some time to check papers of the vehicles and declaring them fit to ply. “There is no information till Tuesday night and our officials waited at Ramlila Ground in Indirapuram and Sahibabad depot of the UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC). We have decided against the bus operations from Kaushambi depot as it may attract a large influx of migrant workers from across the Delhi border. A similar situation had prevailed in the last week of March when thousands of workers had arrived at Anand Vihar,” said RR Soni, regional transport officer.

“Once the buses arrive, we will have to check their permits whether they are roadways buses or having All India permits. The guidelines say that there has to be an agreement between two states for plying of vehicles. We will also have to check for fitness, insurance and other documentation before the buses can be sent for operations. Sanitisation of buses can be done at local level by our agencies,” he said.

Reacting to the Congress’ allegations, the BJP blamed the Congress for indulging in politics over the issue of migrant workers.

“The Congress party has been insensitive towards the migrant workers. When UP government seeks list of buses they take hours and days to send it. When we receive the list, the vehicle numbers are of bike, ambulances, etc. The Congress leaders are just indulging in politics and trying to hide their inaction in the states where they have governments. Help is extended unconditionally,” said Chandra Mohan, spokesperson of the UP BJP.

All through the day on Tuesday, both sides exchanged a number of letters over the buses that the Congress proposed to provide in order to send stranded migrant workers home.

The Congress had on Saturday requested the state government for permission to run 1000 buses from Ghaziabad and Noida in order to carry stranded migrant workers to their home towns. The state government accepted the Congress’ proposal on Monday and informed the party the same afternoon, asking for a list of buses at the earliest.

Awanish Awasthi, UP’s additional chief secretary, in a letter to Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi’s private secretary, asked the Congress to provide 500 buses to the district magistrate, Ghaziabad, at Kaushambi and Sahibabad bus stops by 12pm. In addition, provide 500 buses to the district magistrate, Gautam Buddha Nagar, at Expomart. Earlier, the state government had asked the Congress to send all the buses to Lucknow first, to which the party did not agree.

The Congress had provide a list of the vehicles through an email to the state government. On Tuesday, UP government spokesman and minister for MSMEs Sidharth Nath Singh accused the Congress of providing a ‘fake’ list to the state government. Singh said preliminary inquiry into the Congress list had shown that the list carried registration numbers of three-wheelers.

The Congress, however, denied the charges. “After we sent the list of the UP government, the UP officials late night and asked us to send list of fitness certificates of the buses. We question when they use buses in rallies, no fitness certificate is asked. All this shows that they do not want the buses to come to UP,” Congress spokesperson Tyagi said.

Meanwhile additional chief secretary Awasthi on Tuesday said that the UP chief minister has directed for 100% utilisation of UPSRTC buses for ferrying migrant workers.

“Apart from UPSRTC buses, the CM has also directed that private buses can also be acquired for ferrying migrant workers. We have no shortage of buses and trains in UP. We have about 656 trains which have come so far and permission for 258 more has been given,” he added.