BENGALURU: Stung by the opposition Congress charge of mishandling the migrant workers' return to their native place in the state, the Karnataka government offered to transport them to their home free from Bengaluru and other cities, an official said on Sunday.
"The migrant workers stranded in cities like Bengaluru will not be charged fare to travel by the state-run buses to their native place across the state till Tuesday," the official from the chief minister's office told IANS here.
The Karnataka Congress unit earlier in the day presented Rs 1 crore cheque to the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) managing director towards the cost of ferrying the stranded migrant workers from Bengaluru to their home free as they were without jobs and wages.
In a damage control exercise, state chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Saturday directed the KSRTC to charge only single fare for ferrying the migrant labourers to their home and not to charge to and fro, as the state would bear its operational cost.
In a related development, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa advised the migrant labourers to maintain social distancing at the intra-state and inter-state bus terminal in the city centre, wear mask and be hygienic.
With the extended lockdown norms further relaxed, the state government has allowed the migrant workers in the cities across the southern state to return to their native place in special buses within the state and special trains to other states since Saturday.
According to the state labour department, about 2 lakh migrant workers have been stranded in relief camps in cities and border areas across the state, with 80,000 of them in this tech city as buses and train services were suspended since March 25 due to the lockdown.