Telangana Congress arranges two buses for migrant workers stranded in Hyderabad

Congress in Telangana on Wednesday said 80 migrant workers stranded here due to COVID- 19 lockdown were sent to their native places in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha onboard two buses arranged by it.

The buses were made available in line with the directive of the party central leadership to help such workers who are keen on going back to their native places during the ongoing national lockdown, state leaders said. State Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, senior leader Marri Shashidhar Reddy, who heads a PCC Task Force on COVID-19, and others flagged off the buses at Gandhi Bhavan, the party's headquarters in Telangana, here.

Each bus carried 40 people and they were provided food, fruits and water for their journey, Shashidhar Reddy told PTI. The migrant workers, who left in the buses on Wednesday, were working in the city, he said. Some buses were operated earlier from Telangana to different states, he said. He also claimed there was no response after the state unit wrote to the Chief Secretary expressing its willingness to contribute towards the "Shramik special" train ticket charges for migrant labourers.

The offer was made following Congress president Sonia Gandhi's statement that the party was ready to bear the expenditure for the journey of migrant workers, he said.