LUCKNOW: Amid a heavy influx of labourers, the UP government said it would pay Rs 26 crore to the Indian Railways for the plying of ‘Shramik Special’ trains to bring back these migrants from other states.
While Rs 6 crore had already been given to the Railways, an additional Rs 20 crore would be paid on Monday.
So far, UP has received over 7.6 lakh migrants in 590 ‘Shramik Special’ trains. The state has approved the arrival of 250 more trains in the next 2-3 days. On Sunday, a record number of about 150,000 labourers returned to UP on board 87 trains.
Meanwhile, in the wake of scores of migrants being stranded on its borders after arriving from other states, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to run trains between districts to ferry migrants to their native places across the state.
In the first phase, the state government is planning to run trains from Jhansi, Mahoba, Agra, Mathura, Prayagraj, Ghaziabad, Noida and Saharanpur to ferry the migrants to their native districts.
According to additional chief secretary, home, Awanish Kumar Awasthi, a large number of migrant workers had arrived in the border districts of the state in Ghaziabad, Saharanpur etc. While some had come walking, others came on bicycles, trucks and other vehicles, he said.
The state authorities have urged the Railway Board chairman to operate short distance trains within UP to ferry workers from one place to another. Moreover, the state government has also decided to run 11 trains daily from Delhi to various destinations in Uttar Pradesh.
The state government has also directed the UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) to deploy 12,000 buses to ferry migrant workers across the state.
The district magistrates were directed to acquire 200 private buses to ferry the migrants to their home districts and the cost would be borne by the revenue department. The DMs have been directed to arrange masks, sanitizer and gloves for the drivers, Awasthi said.