Karnataka govt yet to streamline system to send migrants home

Months after starting the Shramik trains, the state government is yet to streamline the system with lakhs of workers still stuck in various shelters and mustering centres.

With the rumours of total lockdown doing rounds, there is a sudden surge in the number of migrant workers wanting to exit Karnataka over the past two days.

Adding to this is the confusing information given out by different government agencies.

Bangalore with Migrants, a collective of 15 organisations and more than 50 individuals, flagged the concerns of the migrants in an open letter on Tuesday.

“On at least two occasions miscommunication by the government led to massive crises at the mustering centres. On May 23, more than 6,000 workers gathered at Tripura Vasini to take the one train to Odisha scheduled on that day. SMSs had been sent to several thousand workers instead of the numbers needed to fill one train,” the letter said.

“There was a similar situation on June 12 when more than 4,000 migrants wishing to travel to Assam arrived at the designated mustering centres,” it added.

A member of Whitefield Rising, part of the collective, said though many senior officials played a positive role, it was disappointing to see the gaps in the system not fixed.

On June 14, the members of the collective received intimation from the West Bengal and NE Nodal Officer’s office that a helpline had been set up for workers from these states.

“Upon calling the number, we realised that the only information that they would give was that all desirous of returning to West Bengal or the NorthEast states go to Manpho Convention Center and await a train,” the letter said.

On June 14, an official at the helpline confirmed that a train would be run the next day. However, on June 15, the person who responded to the call had no information about such a train.

The migrants were often at loss for information about the train schedules with last-minute messages.

Even on June 14, about 20 migrant workers were found at Doddaballapur on the highway to Hyderabad walking to West Bengal, it said.

Trains increased

Revenue Secretary N Manjunath Prasad, the nodal officer for transportation of migrant workers, said 4 lakh workers have been sent home as on Tuesday.

“We have sent out 7 lakh SMSs based on the confirmation from the Seva Sindhu portal. The number of trains has also been increased. Those coming to the mustering centres are being sent home without undue delay,” he said.