Over 88000 Return To Odisha In 49 Shramik Special Trains, Buses Since May 1

Bhubaneswar: Even since the Indian Railway started operating Shramik Special trains, more than 10 lakh migrant workers have reached their home State. An official of the Indian Railways said that it has ferried more than 10 lakh stranded people since May 1 in over 800 Shramik Special trains.

Among these, 37 trains have reached Odisha while 7 more were scheduled to reach today.

According to sources, two trains from Surat which departed yesterday were expected to reach Balasore and Khurda Road today. This apart, two Sharmik Special trains from Morbi (Gujarat) will be terminated at Balasore. One train from Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh) will reach Bhadrak. Two more trains- one from Tirupur (Tamil Nadu) and another from Namburu( near Guntur in Andhra Pradesh) are scheduled to reach Balasore today.

Five more special trains which departed or are scheduled to depart from various places today will reach destinations in Odisha tomorrow (May 15).

• One from Coimbatore to Bhadrak
• Two from Surat to Jagannathpur
• One from Morbi/Gujarat to Balasore (started yesterday)
• One from Bibinagar/Telangana to Balasore

Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal took to Twitter and wrote, "With the untiring efforts of railway employees, the Indian Railways has operated over 800 Shramik Special trains and transported over 10 lakh workers home along with their family members. I am proud of my employees that even in this worldwide crisis, they are working with full devotion in the service of the citizens while performing their responsibility."

रेलवे कर्मचारियों के अथक परिश्रम से भारतीय रेल 800 श्रमिक स्पेशल ट्रेनों द्वारा अभी तक 10 लाख कामगारों को परिवार सहित घर पहुंचाया है।

मुझे अपने कर्मचारियों पर गर्व है कि इस विश्वव्यापी संकट में भी अपनी जिम्मेदारी निभाते हुए वह नागरिकों की सेवा में पूरी निष्ठा से कार्यरत है। pic.twitter.com/auWFmSMxNu

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) May 14, 2020

A railway spokesperson said that proper screening of passengers is ensured before boarding the train. "During the journey, they are given free meals and water," he said.

The Indian Railways has started to run Shramik Special train from May 1 to transport the stranded migrant workers, students, pilgrims and tourists across the country.

Around 800 trains were terminated in various states like Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal.

As per Odisha government's press release, 88,543 migrant Odias have returned to the State through buses, trains and various other means of transport.