Hyderabad: Coming to the aid of migrant workers who wanted to return to their native towns, the Telangana government on Saturday organised a major operation to run 46 trains and help 50,000 workers reach their homes.
The move was aimed at providing succour to migrant workers and avoid them embarking on a hard trek along highways or railway tracks in the hot sun.
Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar flagged off some of the special trains from the Nampally railway station and said that while six trains were scheduled to depart from Nampally railway station, another 40 trains were departing to different States from other railway stations in the State.
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“By midnight all the trains will leave, transporting around 50,000 migrant workers to different destinations,” he said.
Till date, over 1.22 lakh migrant workers have reached their hometowns through 88 trains that were operated from different railway stations in the State. He said most of the migrant workers who had registered with the State government for leaving to their native places, have also expressed their desire to return to the State after things settle down.
Sri Somesh Kumar,IAS., Chief Secretary to Govt. flagged off Train carrying migrant workers at Nampally Railway Station. pic.twitter.com/zsVDalhryE
— IPRDepartment (@IPRTelangana) May 23, 2020
The State government is arranging two food packets and three litres of drinking water and fruits for each migrant worker before boarding the trains, he said. The Railways is taking care of the food arrangements during the journey.
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Somesh Kumar complimented the police and other department officials for effective coordination and ensuring there was no inconvenience to migrant workers.
Director General of Police M. Mahender Reddy said that migrant workers were part of the reconstruction process of the State. Facilitating the migrant workers reach their respective hometowns safely and conveniently was a goodwill gesture extended by the State government, he said.
MAUD Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar, Additional DG Jitender, GHMC Commissioner DS Lokesh Kumar, PR & RD Secretary Sandeep Kumar Sultania, Secretary Finance Ronald Ross, Ranga Reddy Joint Collector Harish and other officials were also present.
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