1188 migrant workers board Shramik Special Train, feel sigh of relief
Ferozepur, May 5, 2020: There was excitement as well as a sigh of relief when as many as 1188 migrant workers who had uncertainty last night on boarding the Shramik Special train from Jalandhar - under Ferozepur Rail Division - to Daltonganj via Saharanpur and Lucknow, having a journey of 1394 kms in around 20 hrs, so as to join their families, amid lockdown in the wake of the spread of coronavirus threat.
Railway has already announced six Shramik special trains –Lingampally to Hatia, Nasik to Lucknow, Aluva to Bhubaneswar, Nasik to Bhopal, Jaipur to Patna and Kota to Hatia. to ferry stranded migrant workers students due to lockdown. The railway has already run the first such train with 1200 passengers from Hyderabad to Jharkhand on last Friday. As per the guidelines, the passengers of these trains will have to be screened at the boarding points and only those found asymptomatic of Covid-19 will be allowed to travel. However, on arrival at the destination, the passengers will be received by the state government, which will make all arrangements for their screening, quarantine, if necessary and further travel from the railway station
State President, Organization for Protection of Human Rights, Sandeep Sharma appreciated the efforts of DC and CP in managing the movement of the migrants in a systematic and organized manner.
When lockdown 3.0 has started, the only convenience for traveling from one place to the other is because of efficient rail connectivity.
Government of Punjab has taken the initiative to arrange the safe traveling of migrant laborers who had waited for nearly two months to go back to their families due to the imposition of curfew in the wake of the threat of coronavirus, said railway communiqué.
The railway authorities organized the movement of people by collecting them at a pre-decided point by the bus where their identity has been checked and medical fitness granted after the examination. Before this, the entire station area was sanitized; pandals have been erected for a comfortable short stay of the passengers by working throughout the night, for advance printing of the tickets to be handed over to the State government for the distribution.
They were brought to the Railway Station in small batches and thereafter they have been made to sit in the pre-defined enclosures duly maintaining social distancing norms. All of them had individual medical fitness certificates and were wearing face covers. They were excited and thrilled to go back home.
Indian Railways has put in its efforts as desired by Govt. of Punjab and confirmed by Govt. of Jharkhand in organizing the Shramik Special. With this discipline, understanding, and consideration, Railway hope to run many more such Special train from Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Bathinda as per the request of the Government of Punjab with the consent of the destination by the State government, said DRM Ferozepur.