Punjab Government has facilitated the return of 1.10 lakh migrants to their native states till date. More than 90 trains have left Punjab taking 1,10,000 migrants to their states with the State Government spending more than Rs six crore to fund the movement of these migrants.
“This return is being accomplished with the collaboration of railway authorities of Ferozepur division and Ambala division. In the coming days, more than 15 trains are going to depart daily taking migrants to their homes,” said the State Nodal Officer (Railways) Vikas Pratap.
Pratap said that the maximum number of trains are going from Ludhiana, and till now, 36 trains have taken passengers from there to their home states. “Similarly, 31 trains have gone from Jalandhar to different parts of the country. Other places from where trains have departed are Patiala, Mohali, Bathinda, Sirhind etc. In the coming days, trains shall also depart from Ferozepur Cantt, Doraha etc,” he said.
Maximum trains are going to Uttar Pradesh followed by Bihar and Jharkhand. Punjab Government is also sending trains to Chattisgarh, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh to mitigate the difficulties of the migrants of these states.
Pratap also informed that the state of Punjab has appointed nodal officers for all these states who are pro-actively connecting to their counterparts in other states to facilitate the return of the migrants.
“All the Deputy Commissioners of the state have constituted teams for the mandatory medical screening of migrants. Only those are being allowed to board the trains who are found to be asymptomatic,” he added.