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Mohali spends ₹1.33 crore to sent migrant workers back home
Running a Shramik Special train cost Rs 9 lakh, tickets amounted to Rs 7.5 lakh, and 60 buses to transport labourers to the railway station meant additional Rs 1.25 lakh, says deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan
Mohali district has run up a tab of Rs 1.33 crore to ferry migrant workers back home to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar due to the Covid-19 lockdown even as 15,000 workers and their families were sent back in a week, deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan said on Thursday.
There was also a 30% drop in the number of migrants wanting to go back home as industries opened and farming jobs were renewed because of paddy transplantation.
On the budget for a train journey, Dayalan said running a Shramik Special cost Rs 9 lakh, tickets amounted to Rs 7.5 lakh, 60 buses to transport labourers to the railway station meant an additional Rs 1.25 lakh. Water and refreshments for the journey cost Rs 30,000.
Eight trains had left Mohali for various destinations of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (UP) in a week.
Six more trains were proposed for both the states, Dayalan said, adding that the money was being spent from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and funding of Rs 2.18 crore allocated by the Punjab government for Mohali out of Rs 53.43 crore for all districts in the state to tackle the Covid-19 crisis.
TRAINS SENT WHERE MAJORITY WANTED TO GO
On how the administration started sending back the workers from May 7, with eight trains leaving Mohali up to May 14, taking migrants to UP, Bihar and Jharkhand, Dayalan said data was compiled, statistics worked out and district wise departure schedule planned for the entire population of outbound migrants. First, districts where a large chunk of workers belonged to, such as Hardoi in UP, were targeted and then others were sent to multiple adjacent destinations in special trains.
Six more trains are also proposed on May 15, 16 and 18.
30% DROP IN NUMBERS OF WORKERS WANTING TO GO BACK
Dayalan also said that about 30% migrant workers registering with administration to go home had decided not to do so with easing of lockdown restrictions in labour-intensive industrial and construction sectors coupled with work opportunities in the paddy transplantation period.
However, the administration was “geared up to help others wanting to return. In fact, we are also going to extend boarding facility from Mohali to the migrants from Ropar and Nawanshahar seeking to go back to districts listed by the Mohali administration,” he said.
Those wanting to go to destinations not in the current schedule of the administration would be sent in trains headed there from neighbouring districts.
BUSES GOING TO MANIPUR, ANDHRA
Dayalan also said 225 workers were sent from Sirhind in buses towards Manipur and Andhra Pradesh while 900 would leave for Madhya Pradesh on Friday. People seeking to go back on private vehicles were also being issued permission after due screening.
Health checks of the workers, once at the collection centre and then at the railway station were being done. Bus transportation (to the station) was provided free of cost and food, water and biscuits were provided by the administration.
All vehicles had departed exactly at the scheduled time.
The eighth special train which left Mohali Railway Station for Bihar on Thursday carried 1,501 migrant workers back to their home state with stoppages at Katihar, Patna, Champaran and Barauni.
