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‘Over 1.4 million stranded migrant workers repatriated till May 15 midnight’: Indian Railways
“During the last 3 days, more than 2 lakh persons have been transported per day,” the ministry said.
The Ministry of Railways has operated over one thousand ‘Shramik special’ trains till the midnight of May 15 and repatriated over 1.4 million stranded migrant labourers to their native places across the country amid the Covid-19 lockdown, news agency ANI reported the ministry statement.
Till the midnight of May 15, the ministry has operated 1074 ‘Shramik Special’ trains, the ministry said.
“During the last 3 days, more than 2 lakh persons have been transported per day,” the statement added.
Earlier this month, the government began operating special ‘Shramik’ trains to ferry stranded migrant labourers across the country to their native places amid the coronavirus lockdown. The ministry also started 15 interstate passenger train services on May 12. 15 trains, starting from the national capital and connecting various cities across the country, started operations on May 12.
Also read: Covid-19 and a realisation - The migrant worker is indispensable
The ministry, earlier this week, made several announcements including the cancellation of all train tickets booked before the Covid-19 lockdown for travel period up to June 30, 2020. The ministry said that a full refund the cancelled tickets will be provided to the customers. The cancellation, however, does not apply to special trains.
With effect from May 13, the IRCTC has also started taking the destination address of all passengers who are booking tickets. The move will help in Covid-19 contact tracing if required, the railways said.
All passenger train operations were suspended in March after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced nationwide coronavirus lockdown to break the chain of the infection in the country. Goods trains and rail operations for essentials were carried out by the Railways.
