After migrants, Congress says will foot bill for stranded students, pilgrims

Congress general secretary in-charge of the organization, KC Venugopal, wrote to the party’s state units, asking them to cover the train fare of students and pilgrims as well, besides migrant workers.

A day after Congress president Sonia Gandhi asked all state units to pay for the train journeys of stranded migrant workers who are headed home, the party on Tuesday extended the offer to students and pilgrims who cannot afford the cost of travel.

Congress general secretary in-charge of the organization, KC Venugopal, wrote to the party’s state units, asking them to cover the train fare of students and pilgrims as well, besides migrant workers. State units were told to make sure such people aren’t required to pay the one-way train fare to their destinations if they cannot afford to do so..

Pradesh Congress Committees were told to form advisory committees to frame guidelines and oversee implementation of the initiative, including outreach, identification and reimbursement of beneficiaries besides coordinating with officers appointed by state governments to ensure the orderly movement of migrant workers.

Through another circular, Venugopal also directed the state units to establish help desks with dedicated helpline numbers to enable the stranded migrant workers to approach them.

“There should be extensive social media campaigns through all platforms. The migrant workers can be reached out by circulating a Google form to collect the travel details such as contact, source and destination,” read the circular.

The state units were also directed to deploy teams at each railway station to coordinate the departure of migrant workers and make payments to the railway authorities. In another move, the Congress sought voluntary contributions from the public to meet the travel expenses of migrant labourers.

Gandhi’s announcement on Monday that her party would bear the cost of travel of migrant workers who, the Congress alleged were being forced to pay the train fare, triggered a war of words with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The opposition party accused the government of being insensitive to the plight of stranded migrant workers; the BJP rebutted the claim, saying the railways was paying 85% and state governments the remainder, entailing no cost to the workers.

Gandhi on Tuesday called a meeting of the chief ministers of Congress-ruled states and senior leaders on Wednesday to discuss issues related to the coronavirus pandemic and the impact of the prolonged lockdown on the economy.

Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said it was unfortunate that the Centre and the state governments were charging money from stranded migrant workers for ferrying them home and also offered to pay for their travel. “If governments hesitate in paying the fare of the migrants, the BSP will take help of its cadre and will contribute in making arrangements for these workers,” she said.