Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru (SHP)

Bengaluru, May 6: Karnataka government has decided to cancel all trains that were scheduled to transport the migrant workers to their villages from Wednesday, May 6. The decision was taken after leading property builders conducted meeting with chief minister B S Yediyurappa.

"The COVID-19 situation in the state is in control as compared to other states. Barring the red zones, business, construction work and industrial activities have to be resumed. In this background, it was explained that unnecessary travel of the migrant workers has to be controlled," Yediyurappa said after the meeting.

Following the decision on the matter, the state government also wrote a letter to the Indian Railways for cancellation of the trains scheduled to depart from May 6.

Meanwhile, the decision has served a blow to the migrant workers that are finding it troublesome to return home.

Referring to an earlier request of requiring three trains to ferry the workers, nodal officer for the inter-state travel N Manjunath Prasad claimed that the train services were no longer necessary. "About 10,000 labourers who wanted to go to Bihar were at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre. They said they wanted to go home following which we requested the railways for trains. Yesterday (Tuesday), Yediyurappa held a meeting with construction agencies — Metro, BIAL and all infrastructure projects which are going on. The chief minister directed them to start all work immediately. Afterwards, migrant labourers at BIEC were all told that work will start. They were also told about the chief minister’s meeting. All of them have gone back. We have informed that trains scheduled for Wednesday will not be required. Three trains scheduled for Bihar now stand cancelled," Prasad was quoted in a report by News18.

"These are people who have come to work in Bengaluru. Once there is employment, normalcy will get established… so why go back then? Those who still want to go back can do so using their vehicle," he added.

Although no appropriate reason has been provided for the cancellations, a senior government official claimed the decision to be the outcome of meeting the government had with Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (CREDAI).

It was noted in the meeting that the workers were vital to revive the failing economy in the state.

The workers who took the trains back home reportedly had to pay Rs 800 to 1,200 per ticket depending on the destination. They also had to pay the fare for the state-run BMTC buses which ferried them to the railway station.

Karnataka has over 2 lac, migrant labourers, from different parts of the country and Bangladesh and Nepal. More than 80,000 of them are from Orissa and about 70,000 are from Bihar, as per the labour department's records collected during the pandemic.