A day after 16 migrants were crushed to death on a railway track near Aurangabad, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, in a telephonic talk with Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, urged him to organise more trains for their transportation. The former also called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene by talking to the chief ministers of the states that are not allowing these migrants to come back home.
There are about 6.50 lakh stranded migrants being kept in relief camps in various parts of Maharashtra. With the state government’s initiatives, more than 50,000 migrant workers were transported through special trains to their home states. However, the urgency to step up the movement of migrants has surfaced after 16 migrant workers died near Aurangabad on Friday. Despite repeated appeals by the state government, some have hit the roads to return to their home states.
“Had a telephonic conversation with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal regarding the issue of migrant workers,’’ Pawar said in his tweet.
“The CM has assured me of the arrangements made for the transportation of these workers wanting to go back to their home states. State transport buses will be used for their travel. The Union Railway Minister has also assured of arrangements of travel by trains for the same,’’ said Pawar.
Further, Pawar said he has also requested the PM to intervene in this matter by talking to the chief ministers of the states that are not allowing migrants to return back home, mainly Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.
Thackeray has reiterated that he was in constant touch with the centre over the issue of running more trains to ferry migrant labourers. "Arrangements will be made soon. Labourers should not lose patience," he said.
