Railway minister Piyush Goyal has lamented the attitude of several states like West Bengal in not cooperating well for the relocation of migrants
Bengaluru: It’s sad that the coronavirus continues to devour lives and destroy livelihoods.
But what is sadder and deplorable is the attitude of politicians who refuse to bury the hatchet and work in a selfless manner for the benefit of the public.
Take for example the migrant issue. The sight of them walking miles together in the hot sun, braving the heat to reach their home, some on bare foot and some others on empty stomachs brings tears to any compassionate human being.
On its part, the Central government has arranged trains to ameliorate the conditions of these helpless and hapless migrants and to see a smile on their faces.
But even at this hour of the crisis, politics continues unabated.
Railway minister Piyush Goyal summed it up germanely.
He said, “It pains me that several states such as West Bengal, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand are not giving enough permission for ‘shramik special’ trains to enter their states. West Bengal first gave permission for only two trains, but after Union home minister Amit Shah wrote to state Chief Minister then announcement was made that eight more trains will be allowed. But until today (May 14) afternoon, only 5 out of those 8 trains were allowed by the WB government.”
As per Goyal, the Indian Railways has earmarked 1,200 trains to be run as Shramik Special for migrant workers to take them to their hometown. Despite this, Goyal says that the aforementioned states are not giving enough permission to run them.
There are as many as 30-40 lakh migrants who are waiting to reach their destinations. But a recalcitrant attitude exhibited by these states only results in these migrants paying the price for no fault of theirs.
Piyush Goyal implored West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee to allow more trains to run in order to facilitate the return of more migrants.
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