COVID-19: Registration begins for stranded migrant labourers in Kerala
Non-stop train services planned to take labourers back home
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala on Friday started the process to register migrant labourers as the federal government plans to start train services to take them back to their home states.
The federal government has taken a considerate stand on operating non-stop trains to carry migrant labourers stuck in various states, which will help them to return to their home states.
According to the Kerala State Labour department there are 20,826 camps across the state where 361,190 migrant labourers are presently residing, which are under the control of the respective district administration.
On Friday, the officials reached these camps and started taking all the details of the labourers, which will then be sent to the Centre, so that arrangements are made by the Indian Railways to operate non-stop trains to various parts of the country.
The migrant labourers, presently in Kerala are mostly from Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Special train ferries 1,200 migrants from Telangana to Jharkhand
A special non-stop train with 1,200 stranded migrants started from Telangana to Jharkhand’s Hatia, officials said on Friday. Railway sources said the train left from Lingampalli station at 5am.
According to officials in Jharkhand, the state government has made adequate arrangements for the testing and quarantine of the migrants returning to the state on the special non-stop train.
The railways have suspended passenger, mail and express train services in a bid to combat the spread of COVID-19.