Karnataka will bear the travel cost of migrant workers and stranded persons who want to return to their homes through Shramik special trains till May 31, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has announced.
“The government has considered the plea of migrant workers who were unable to bear the travel expenditure to go back to their hometown. The government considers migrant workers, who have come from far-flung parts of our country, as our own people and it is my firm belief that they too must be supported by the state,” Yediyurappa said in a tweet Friday.
“Therefore, Karnataka government will bear the cost of travel of migrant workers and stranded persons to their respective states by Shramik trains up to 31st May,” he said.
At present, the Shramik trains are run on an 85:15 cost-sharing ratio, with the states having to bear 15% of the cost, which the travellers have been made to pay in several cases.
The Indian Railways has operated 1,565 Shramik special trains since May 1 and ferried over 20 lakh migrants back home.