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Close to 2 lakh migrants travelled on Shramik specials in and out of Rajasthan on a single day
Close to 45 thousand migrant workers returned to Rajasthan on Monday on board Shramik specials.
Around 1.5 lakh migrant workers were transported to their home states from Rajasthan on Shramik specials on Monday and around 45,000 were brought back as Indian Railways continues to facilitate movement of migrants stranded due to the lockdown to ease a humanitarian crisis.
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The North Western Railway (NWR) on Tuesday said it operated 105 trains from origin points in Rajasthan to other states including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, and carried more than 148,000 passengers on the shramik special service on Monday. Railway officials added that about 45,000 passengers arrived in the state on board 39 inbound Shramik trains.
According to the railway figures released on Monday, over 40 lakh migrant workers have been transported to different states in over 3,000 Shramik specials since May 1. Another 2,600 Shramik special trains are expected to transport close to 36 lakh migrant population to their home states during the lockdown. Passengers identified and screened by the state governments travel on these special trains.
NWR chief public relations officer Abhay Sharma said among the outbound Shramik special trains, 49 went to Bihar, 12 to MP, 32 to UP, five to Jharkhand, three to West Bengal and one each to Uttrakhand, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
“Until Monday evening, we have transported 148,619 passengers out of Rajasthan,” he said.
Among the inbound trains, 14 came from Maharashtra, seven from Karnataka, six each from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, two from Tamil Nadu and one each from Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kerala, and West Bengal. The inbound trains brought 45,109 migrants into the state.
The NWR said it is coordinating with other states to plan operation of more Shramik special trains for workers as per requirements.
