West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal locked horns on Thursday over the return of stranded workers, with the CM announcing 105 trains to bring them home and therefore the BJP leader accusing the government of not taking adequate measures. Bringing back migrant labourers and stranded people to Bengal has snowballed into a serious political issue, with the opposition BJP and therefore the refore the Union government rapping the state for not doing enough and the Trinamool Congress denying it. “Towards our commitment to helping all our people stuck in several parts of the country and who want to return to Bengal, i’m pleased to announce that we’ve arranged 105 additional special trains. Over the approaching days, these special trains will embark from different states for various destinations across Bengal bringing our people back home,” Banerjee tweeted on Thursday morning. In the evening, Goyal said the West Bengal government wasn’t providing facilities to the migrants to return home and has allowed only seven ‘Shramik Special’ trains.
Despite his appeal to the government to permit more ‘Shramik Special’ trains, there has been no response from it, he added. The ruling Trinamool Congress of West Bengal hit back and accused Goyal of being absent during this monumental crisis. Earlier, the govt had given nod for 10 trains to facilitate the return of labourers, patients, tourists and students stranded in other states due to the lockdown. Three of those 10 trains have reached the state thus far . In her tweet, Banerjee shared an inventory of 105 trains which might leave from Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka and Rajasthan among others over subsequent few weeks. The list suggested that three trains would commence their journey from New Delhi , Mumbai and Bangalore Urban on May 16 and reach New Coochbehar, Howrah and Malda Town respectively the subsequent day.
The government’s initiative to ferry stranded people range in trains would continue till Flag Day . Later, during a series of tweets, Goyal said, “After my statement yesterday, the West Bengal government has woken up from its deep sleep. the govt has yet allowed only seven trains for migrant workers… The workers of Bengal are faraway from their homes, so I had appealed to permit them to run more trains.” West Bengal must run 105 ‘Shramik Special’ trains daily to require stranded migrants back home, but “there is unconfirmed news that for subsequent 30 days they need prepared an inventory of just 105 trains”, he said. “It may be a cruel joke with the migrant workers of West Bengal that the govt there’s not giving them the power to travel to their houses,” Goyal said. The railway minister said, “So far, the govt of West Bengal has not allowed eight trains to run, as per its announcement last week.” “This may be a petty plan to trick West Bengal’s migrant workers, and therefore the government is deed from its responsibility to require the poor labourers home. Uttar Pradesh cleared 400 trains in but 15 days and brought its migrant workers home. rather than showing this type of alacrity, the West Bengal government is preventing the labourers from getting assistance,” he said. Goyal urged the West Bengal government to believe the interests of the workers who need to affect the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The state should allow the Railways to run more special trains as soon as possible to require stranded migrants home, he said. The railway minister’s statement didn’t go down well with the TMC, which dubbed it as “cheap politics and an effort to attain political brownie points at the time of crisis”. ”
The minister has been about absent during this monumental crisis when many poor migrant workers are abandoned. they have been left to defend themselves, stuck everywhere the country expecting some help from government to securely return to their homes and families,” TMC Rajya Sabha party leader Derek O’ Brien said. Leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, however, welcomed the move by the government and said it should have taken the steps several days earlier. Last week Union Home Minister Amit Shah had flagged the difficulty of non-cooperation by the West Bengal government in bringing back stranded labourers. The Centre had also rapped the government over its handling of the COVID crisis within the state.