The Kerala government on Monday cancelled three special trains to Bihar after the government in the eastern state refused clearance citing the high volume of passenger traffic and lack of adequate facilities to screen so many returning migrants.
A senior railway official in Kerala said the Bihar government refused permission for the trains that were set to leave on Monday for Darbhanga, Danapur and Muzaffarpur.
A state hosting migrant workers needs a no-objection certificate from the state receiving the workers before it can allow a train to leave, said the railway official who cannot be named.
The cancellations came amid widespread outrage over charging train fares from the migrant workers who have been jobless since the Covid-19 lockdown started on March 25.
The special trains — called named Shramik Express — were scheduled to leave on Monday from Kozhikode, Alappuzha and Tirur before they were cancelled.
“The states sending the migrants provide each of them a medical certificate stating that they have no symptoms of Covid-19. But once the train reaches its destination, it is the task of that state to test them again and decide if they should be sent to home quarantine or a quarantine centre,” the railway official said.
Sources in Bihar said the state has been receiving around 1,200 passengers per train since the railways resumed services for migrant workers stranded outside their state.
In Kerala, authorities in the three districts have now prepared a list of migrant workers who would have to wait for the next call to board the special trains that have transported thousands of migrant workers from Kerala since May 1.
An official in Tirur, Malappuram district, said the police had prepared the full list of passengers for the train to Darbhanga. “All preparations were done to send the workers who will now be sent home once the Bihar government gives the permission,” Jaffer Malik, district collector, said in a press statement.
Monday’s cancellations come at a time the railways have been accused of charging the migrants for their journey back home. The railway official, however, said the utility’s role was limited to running the special train services.
“We have not taken any money from workers. It is the state governments that decide on whether to make the passengers pay. In many cases the Kerala government paid for their tickets,” he said.
Sources said the police have been patrolling areas where camps have been put up to house migrant workers to ensure nothing untoward happened.
The state has deployed volunteers who speak Hindi, Bengali, Odia and Assamese to communicate and clarify all doubts of the workers with the main aim of reducing their anxieties over returning home.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday announced that his government would reimburse ticket fares and give Rs 500 to each arriving worker to reach home. The announcement came after Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav said his RJD would bear the train fare of all the poor labourers returning home to their state.
Vijayan appeal to PM
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to the Prime Minister to allow trains returning to the state to pick up Malayalis stranded in other states. “There are trains going from Kerala to other states. These trains can bring back Malayalis who are trying to come home,” Vijayan told a media briefing.
He also said migrant workers were being made to pay for their journey as the Centre did not provide any help. “We had expected the Centre to provide free trips,” the CPM leader said.