After immense pressure and criticism against its decision of cancelling all the Shramik train services for the migrant workers, the Karnataka government has decided to resumes its services to ferry the workers back home from Friday, May 8.
Migrant workers 'walk' back to homes
The decision was taken by Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Thursday morning, who had earlier on Tuesday announced the cancellation of all the train services allotted for the migrant labourers to return back to their native lands.
The sudden cancellation of the trains had left all the workers at grim dismay. The workers have been demanding highly for their return to native lands since the initial days of the lockdown. As the train and bus services were completely called off, most of the workers have started to walk all the way back from Bengaluru to their home in Bihar.
The videos and photos of migrant workers walking back to their native states were going viral in social media. This has added up the pressure on the government which led to the new decision of restarting the train services.
Wide protests and outrage by the migrant workers across the state as well as by the opposition party members were resultant of the Chief Minister's former decision. These daily wage earners were not provided adequate food and water supply, or their pending salary amounts.
The workers have been protesting against these undignified responses from their contractors and employers that fuelled up their crisis due to the national lockdown.
Trains to nine states
According to the reports, the state government on Thursday has sent letters to nine states seeking permission for the inter-state travel of these labourers, tourists, students, pilgrims and other persons between May 8 and 15.
Letters were sent to Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha of which Bihar and Madhya Pradesh have responded with the consent.
Two special trains have been proposed by the state government that would travel per day to Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Odisha; while Manipur, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will have one train each.
The Seva Sindhu platform has recorded the registration of 2.13 lakh persons to go out of the State, of which just over 8,000 had left on the eight trains arranged before.
