Central Govt Denies Claims About Shramik Trains Getting Lost; Says Special Arrangements For Meals Were Made [Read Statement]

The Ministry of Railways told the Rajya Sabha that no train lost its way or travelled in the wrong direction and that special arrangements like enhanced sanitisation, special security, medical arrangement, rake sanitisation, free meals, water etc. were made.

The submission assumes relevance in context to the suo moto proceedings initiated by the National Human Rights Commission, seeking response of the Railway Board and the Union Home Secretary on reports of death of many migrant labourers during their journey by train due to longer duration and no arrangements for drinking water and food etc.

'Trains Getting Lost, Reaching Unexpected Destinations Require Thorough Investigation' : NHRC Takes Suo Moto Notice Of Migrants' Hardships In Shramik Trains

The National Commission had observed that the contents of the media reports, if true, amount to gross violations of human rights. The aggrieved families have suffered irrevocable loss. The state has failed to protect the lives of the poor labourers on board the trains.

While answering an unstarred question raised by CPI(M) MP Elamaram Kareem however, the Government said,

"In all, 4621 Shramik Special have been operated between 1st May, 2020 and 31st August, 2020 carrying 63.19 lakh passengers to their home states.

…Indian Railways allowed booking of Shramik Specials on normal fare for one direction only. Special arrangements were made like enhanced sanitisation, special security, medical arrangement, rake sanitisation, free meals, water etc. for Shramik operations which later added to the overall cost of running these trains."

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal added,

"No train lost its way or travelled in the wrong direction. As most of the Shramik specials were run towards Eastern part of the country on specific routes, to ease congestion on these routes, very few trains were routed through alternate non-congested routes between 20th and 24th May, 2020 during the peak phase of Shramik special operations."

He however admitted that the IRCTC had received 113 complaints from passengers travelling on the Shramik special trains regarding unavailability of food and water.

Earlier, the Karnataka High Court had directed the State and Central Government to give details of arrangements made for providing food and water to the migrant workers who are traveling by Shramik special trains.

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