T govt to run 40 special trains to ferry migrant laborers home from Telangana

Hyderabad: A long agonizing wait has finally come to an end after the Telangana government decided to operate 40 special trains every day to ferry tens of thousands of migrant workers to their homes.

Starting from Tuesday, these trains will run for a week, said Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

The decision was taken in a review meeting chaired by the chief minister at Pragati Bhavan on late on Monday. The meeting discussed the problems being faced by the migrant laborers due to lockdown. Health Minister Etela Rajender, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, DGP Mahender Reddy, and others attended the meeting.

After assessing the ground situation, KCR decided to run special trains for the migrant workers.

He said trains will run from various stations including Hyderabad, Warangal, Khammam, and Damaracherla other places in the state. These special trains would leave for Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and other States.

Chief Minister also spoke to South Central Railway General manager Gajanan Mallya and requested him to arrange 40 special trains from Tuesday.

Further, the state government had appointed senior IAS officer Sandeep Sultania and Additional DG Law & Order Jitender as Special Officers to oversee the travel of migrant workers to their native states.

Migrant workers, who have registered their names with the police stations, would be allowed to travel by the special trains. The details of the travel will be given at the police station.

KCR said migrant laborers should not feel anxious as the government has made adequate arrangements for their travel to their native places. He has also instructed the police officers to coordinate with the migrant workers for hassle-free travel.