Coronavirus Lockdown: Run ‘Ghar-wapsi special train’ for migrants, Bihar tells Centre

Nitish Kumar government on Thursday appealed to the Centre to run several special trains which could help to bring back around 28 lakh migrants, stranded in different states, to Bihar.

“Several lakhs migrant workers, besides students and others, are stuck up in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. We urge the Centre to run ‘Ghar wapsi special trains’ so that these people could be brought to Bihar without violating lockdown guidelines,” Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi said here on Thursday evening. These trains should run non-stop, he argued.

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The Nitish regime concern (for the migrants) stems from the fact that it actually lacks resources to bring back so many people at a time. “In Kota alone, around 6,500 students are stuck up.

Even if we press all the buses at our disposal, will it possible to bring 28 lakh people from different states to Bihar,” argued a senior official, refusing to be identified.

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Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, meanwhile, slammed Nitish for ill-preparedness to bring back migrants. “We are ready to provide 2,000 buses to bring back people. The Nitish government should just tell us where could we send these buses,” said Tejashwi.

“Our suggestion is that those stranded should may be screened and maintaining social distance, be allowed to board these special trains. These trains should run non-stop. Once these people reach their destination, they should be screened again and kept at isolation centres or asked for home quarantine,” said Bihar’s Deputy CM Sushil Modi, who is a senior BJP leader.

Meanwhile, the Bihar government appointed Pratyaya Amrit, the Principal Secretary of the Disaster Management Department, as the nodal officer to supervise the process of bringing back those stranded.