NEW DELHI: A total of 97 persons died while traveling in Shramik Special trains, as of September 9, the government informed the Rajya Sabha in response to a question on Saturday. The Centre’s admission comes days after it said in the Lok Sabha that it does not have any data regarding the death of migrant workers during the lockdown. In May, Railway Police Force data had revealed that 80 persons had died on the Shramik Special trains between May 9 and 27 alone.
“Out of these 97 cases of death, State Police sent dead bodies for post mortem in 87 cases. 51 post mortem reports have been obtained from respective State Police so far, in which the reasons for deaths have been shown as cardiac arrest/heart disease/brain haemorrhage/pre-existing chronic disease/chronic lung disease, etc,” Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said in response to a question by TMC MP Derek O’Brien.
According to the railway ministry, Shramik Special trains have been operational since May 1 and have ferried around 6.3 lakh migrants between May 1 and August 31 and 4,621 Shramik Special trains ran during this period. The railway minister also said, “Railways has collected fare for Shramik Special trains from state governments or their authorized representatives. Railways did not collect any fare directly from the passengers.”