A special train of 22 sleeper coaches, Shramik (Pravasi) Express, came from Kota in Rajasthan with 956 Jharkhand residents, mostly medical and engineering aspirants, to Dhanbad station on Sunday afternoon.
While the youngsters were from Dhanbad, Bokaro, Giridih, Koderma, Deoghar, Dumka, Pakur, Sahebganj, Jamtara and Godda, the dozen-odd workers were all from Dhanbad.
As soon as the train reached the station at 3.45pm, senior officials of the district administration such as DC Amit Kumar who was present at the station along with SSP Akhilesh B. Verior, railway officials and the railway police gave the passengers a warm welcome with flowers.
The faces of MLAs Raj Sinha (Dhanbad, of the BJP) and Mathura Prasad Mahto (Tundi, of the JMM) were also wreathed in smiles, rivalries forgotten for the moment.
The students and migrant labourers alighted from the train, tired but smiling, and were sent home through special buses and cars arranged by the district administration.
But before that, a team of health officials at the station conducted thermal scanning of each student and worker. All were taken out of the station, observing social distancing norms, through two gates.
One gate was meant for the students of Dhanbad, Bokaro and Giridih, and another for students of Koderma, Deoghar, Dumka, Godda, Jamtara, Sahebganj and Pakur .
All received food packets and water bottles by the district administration.
Parents of students or families of labourers were not allowed to come to the station.
Both MLAs Sinha and Mahto lauded the Centre and state government for their efforts to bring back the students home.
Nineteen-year-old twins from Sahebganj, Riddhi and Siddhi Kumari, looked ecstatic. “We are back,” said Siddhi. “Both of us have been studying for medical entrance exams since last year and staying at Rajiv Gandhi Nagar in Kota. We were home for Diwali last. Never imagined this pandemic.”
The sisters, daughters of a railway guard, Anil Kumar Mahto at Sahebganj, said they were staying in their hostel in Kota and “having each other always was a great comfort”, but they did spend sleepless nights since March 25, when the lockdown came ito effect.
“Uncertainty, money, safety, parents, we thought of everything,” said Siddhi.
“This lasted till Friday, when when we recieved a message on our phones from our coaching institute to pack our bags,” her twin added. “The train journey was good. It started on Saturday at Kota around 9.30pm. We got food in between. The train stopped once at Pt Deendayal Upadhyay Junction in the morning (Sunday),” she said.
Rashmi Singh, 18, a medical aspirant from the Bokaro Thermal Power Station area, said her father Bitan Singh of the CISF “will breathe easy now”.
Medical check-up
Jamshedpur: About 146 students returned from Kota first by a special train up to Hatia (Ranchi) and from there to the steel city in 10 buses late on Saturday night
The students, including girls, received a medical check-up at Pardih along the NH-33 near Mango.
Health officials conducted the medical check-up and took swab samples of all students. The exercise continued at a community centre in Pardih from 10pm on Saturday till 7am on Sunday.
Those present at Pardih throughout the night included East Singhbhum DC Ravi Shankar Shukla and Dhalbhum SDO Chandan Kumar.
District civil surgeon, Maheswar Prasad said all the 146 students had with them their medical test profiles from Kota before boarding the special train, but received another one here. Students were subsequently dropped off at their respective homes in buses. “They don’t have symptoms, but we took precautions.”
A team of the administration led by DC Shukla inspected Tatanagar railway station, anticipating a special train from Kota, on Sunday.