Coronavirus Lockdown: Karnataka to resume inter-state train services for migrant workers

Receiving flak from all quarters for cancelling trains for transporting migrant workers, the Karnataka government on Friday wrote to nine states, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, seeking their coordination in receiving the labourers. The first train is likely to depart to Bihar on Friday afternoon.

Following a meeting with realtors on Tuesday, the state government cancelled the arrangement of migrant workers. Activists, labour leaders and trade unions had criticised the government for the unilateral decision which violated the autonomy of labourers.

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State Revenue Department Principal Secretary N Manjunath Prasad has written to the nodal officers appointed in each of the nine states seeking to receive the migrant labourers.

"Consent has been received to run one special train (to Bihar) everyday from 08.05.2020 to 15.05.2020," the document said.

The trains, however, will not be enough to carry more than 2.3 lakh workers who have registered in the Seva Sindhu web portal seeking inter-state transport services. Even the receiving states do not seem to be ready for the rush of workers.

For instance, while the Karnataka had planned to send 16 trains (two trains per day for eight days) to Bihar to send the 53,000 migrant workers who want to go home, officials from Bihar have agreed to receive one train per day.

Due to the social distancing measures, a train is not allowed to carry more than 1200 persons. In that light, at least 44 trains need to be run to clear the rush of migrants.

Thousands of workers have not even registered on the web portal due to the limits in accessing the police and BBMP workers over the last two days. Many have begun walking on the highways with a determination to reach their home towns on foot.