JOIN USWhile migrant workers stranded in different parts of the country have started going back to their homes, the whole matter has taken a scandalous turn with governments overcharging them for their return trips. The Karnataka government has arranged buses from Bengaluru to take workers to the northern districts of the state from where most of them have come to the city. The Railways have arranged trains to take migrant workers from some South Indian cities to states like Odisha, Jharkand and Bihar. But it is unfortunate that the workers were asked to pay exorbitant fares for their travel. It was reported that some were made to pay Rs 1,509 for a trip from Bengaluru to Vijayapura in place of the regular fare of about Rs 500. But they were allowed to travel on regular fares after Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa intervened in the matter. On Sunday, the government again changed its stance and made travel free. The Railways have announced that extra charges would be collected from the migrants who travel by the special trains.
The logic behind collecting higher fares is that the buses had to be hired on contract basis, and as social distancing norms necessitated accommodation of less number of passengers than normal, the fare had to be hiked proportionately. The Railways charge extra fares because the trains are running special services. But this is normal business logic which should have no place in a situation of extreme distress which prevails in most parts of the country. The people who go to take the bus or the special train to their homes are poor people who cannot afford to pay even the normal fare. It is the government which created the situation which forced them to leave their places of work and to go home, and they are being made to pay for it. This is unfair.
The transportation of migrant workers to their homes should be considered as evacuation of people affected by natural and other calamities to safe places. It should be noted that the Indians who were evacuated from countries like China, Japan and Iran after the Covid-19 outbreak did not have to pay at all. Considering this, demanding even normal fare from the poor migrants is extortion. Many of them have not been paid wages for many days and weeks, have struggled to eat and meet other basic needs ever since the lockdown was imposed. It is the responsibility of the state to send them home, as it a humanitarian issue.