The Bengal government extended all possible assistance, including free transit accommodation at Banga Bhavan in Delhi and train tickets, to the residents of the state who had returned from battle-torn Israel and reached Delhi on Friday.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee wrote on her X handle that the chief secretary and the resident commissioner in Delhi had been asked to ensure that the distressed returnees of the state got all possible assistance after reaching Delhi.
“Indians/ Bengalis are leaving battle-torn Israel and I have asked my chief secretary and Delhi Residence Commissioner to extend all possible government assistance, free of cost, to our distressed returnees. 53 Bengal-origin returnees have already reached Delhi today morning and the State Govt. is arranging their railway tickets back to Bengal at our cost,” Mamata wrote.
The chief minister also pointed out that control rooms had been set up by the state government in Delhi and Calcutta, while help desks were operational at Delhi and Calcutta airports to assist the returnees.
Senior officials at Nabanna said the state was in constant touch with the Centre to know if anyone from Bengal had been brought back from Israel by the Union government.
“The Centre has launched Operation Ajay to facilitate the return of Indians, who are willing to come back, from Israel. Already 212 people have returned, including 53 from the state. We are in touch with the Centre to know whether more from the state are coming back from Israel,” said a senior official.
Sources said the state government had arranged transport from the Delhi airport to Banga Bhavan for the returnees. They will be allowed to stay at Banga Bhavan free of cost till their train tickets to Bengal are confirmed.
The state government will also provide free transport from Banga Bhavan to New Delhi railway station to those heading towards Bengal.
“If required, the district authorities will arrange transport facilities to the homes of the returnees from the nearest railway station. Similar facilities were offered by the Bengal government to migrant labourers who were brought back from different states during the nationwide lockdown three years ago,” said a source.
A senior official said many of the returnees, who had reached Delhi on Friday morning, had already gone to Bengal through connecting flights.