Over 500 special trains run from Gujarat, first train departs for WB

Gandhinagar: Touching a major landmark, the Gujarat government ran the 500th Shramik special train on Monday in just over two weeks since the inter-state movement of workers and other stranded persons was allowed.

“We have been working very closely with several states and Railways to operate special trains to send back migrant workers. We operated the 500th Shramik special train today, which is the highest among all states. These trains have ferried more than 7 lakh workers to their home states,” said Vipul Mittra, additional chief secretary, Labour and Employment department.

The movement of migrant workers to their home states started on May 2. Only two trains departed from Gujarat on the first day. However, the number has risen gradually and touched 51 on Saturday, which was the highest in a day, and ferried more than 81,000 workers to different states.

Mittra is also the state’s nodal officer to facilitate the movement of migrant workers, tourists, pilgrims, students, and other stranded persons on special trains, said that the maximum special trains from Gujarat have gone to Uttar Pradesh, followed by Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand.

Special trains carrying workers have also been sent to Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand.

“We also operated the very first special train to West Bengal today. The train with 1,589 passengers, departed from Ahmedabad for Howrah station in the morning,” said Mittra.

Mittra said that they are now sending trains to states with a smaller number of migrants by clubbing them from several districts. For instance, the workers departing to West Bengal were brought to Ahmedabad from seven districts. Similarly, 1,516 workers from Tamil Nadu were assembled from 32 districts in Gujarat.

“Workers from Tamil Nadu from south Gujarat were brought to Surat, those from central Gujarat to Vadodara, and those from north Gujarat and Saurashtra to Ahmedabad. They boarded the same train but from three different stations today. This is extremely challenging as we need to identify the passengers after they have registered with authorities in different districts, and facilitate their travel to a hub, where they can board the train,” Mittra explained.