The first special train chugged out from Lingampalli (Hyderabad) railway station at 5am on Friday carrying 1,123 labourers of Jharkhand who were stranded in Telangana because of the lockdown.

“The train will reach Hatia railway station at 11pm on Saturday. There are a total of 24 coaches in the train. We have been told that special arrangements have been made inside the train to maintain social distancing and proper hygiene. Our job is to take them to Ranchi. After they reach Ranchi they will be handed over to the Ranchi district administration,” said a senior official with the Ranchi division of the railways.

Talking to a news channel chief minister Hemant Soren said within a couple of days students of Jharkhand stranded in Rajasthan’s Kota will be brought to Jharkhand.

“According to the list available with us there are around 3,100 students from Jharkhand who are in Kota. They will be taken to Jharkhand in a special train. As far as labourers and students are concerned we have chalked out a strategy. In the first phase we will target our neighbouring states such as Bengal, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and the likes. We will run special buses to take them back and GPS will be installed in these buses to track the movement. As far as Delhi and Maharashtra is concerned all labourers will be taken back to Jharkhand. We are utilising all our resources to transport them. I am going to write letters to chief ministers of all states to extend us help and work together to rescue the labourers and students,” the chief minister said.

The labourers wait to board the train at Telangana railway station on Thursday night.

Soren said on their arrival the 1,123 labourers will be welcomed and arrangements have been made.

“From the state to the panchayat level we have made arrangements for them. I spoke to the deputy commissioners of the districts and I told them to ensure proper arrangements like food and lodging for them. Right from the first day I was insisting the Centre to issue guidelines for the safe return of the labourers and I was even ready to approach the court,” he said.

Soren termed it as a special gift to the labourers on the occasion of Labour Day.

Special arrangements were made at the Hatia station where a sanitation drive was undertaken. The station premises was completely sealed and officials have been deployed for monitoring.

“They will be taken to their respective districts in buses where they will have to undergo medical check-ups. They will be kept in quarantine for 14 days,” said state health secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni.