Chandigarh, May 14– Haryana Chief Minister Mr. Manohar Lal is committed to send migrant labourers, feeling home sick to their native state through Special Shramik Trains from various Railway Stations in an organized manner, which is a shining example of compassion and in the true spirit of Antyodhaya.

Giving information about this, an official spokesperson said that due to extended duration of lockdown, the industries, construction works and economy have come to a standstill because of the global pandemic of corona, thus migrant workers were being sent from Haryana by Special Shramik Trains.

Apart from this, the spokesperson said that migrant workers are being sent to nearby states by buses while maintaining social distancing. Migrant labourers were brought from the shelter homes to the railway station by roadways buses. All necessary arrangements were made before they left for their home states. The railway platform was cleaned frequently with a vacuum cleaner and the hands of every migrant worker were sanitized, also proper arrangements for food and drinking water were made for them. To ensure that the labourers did not face any problem, volunteers were given the task of making them sit in their respective coaches. Workers are being sent only after they have registered with the District Administration and after their home states have given approval to send them. Special helpdesks have been set up at railway stations and officers of the district administration are present while sending the workers through train. In fact many migrant workers even said that they have never been given so much respect as they have received in Haryana. After seeing the warmth of Haryana government and its officials, they felt that the quote ‘Atithi Devo Bhave’ was actually being practised here. On the first day when the Special Shramik Train was being sent from Hisar to Katihar (Bihar) for migrant labourers, the Chief Minister Mr. Manohar Lal interacted with some of the workers sitting in the train by mobile phone and asked them to greet the Chief Minister of Bihar Mr. Nitish Kumar on his behalf. The workers were pleasantly surprised to receive this call from the Chief Minister. The Haryana government has provided tickets free of cost and made food arrangements for the labourers and their families. The arrangements made by the Haryana government will have lasting memories for migrant workers.

The spokesperson said that till yesterday 87,072 persons, including migrant workers, students, teachers, and other persons have been sent to their home districts by Special Shramik Trains, buses and other vehicles. He said that 222 were sent from Haryana to Punjab by buses and other vehicles, 63 people were sent to Himachal Pradesh, 38,181 people were sent to Uttar Pradesh, 9,551 were sent to Uttarakhand, 11965 were sent to Madhya Pradesh, 27 people to Gujarat, 464 people to Rajasthan, 58 people to Maharashtra, 24 people to Kerala, 32 people to Assam, 17653 people to Bihar by trains, 185 people to Jammu and Kashmir, 84 people to Delhi and others, 20 people to Andhra Pradesh, 11 to Telangana, 17 to Tamil Nadu, 11 to West Bengal, 4 to Karnataka. In all 8,500 persons were sent to other states with passes.

Similarly, 9912 persons from other states and abroad came to Haryana, 1 from Punjab, 42 from Himachal Pradesh, 179 from Uttar Pradesh, 36 from Uttarakhand, 10 from Madhya Pradesh, 9 from Gujarat, he said. From Rajasthan 2568 people, 17 from Maharashtra, 44 from Kerala, 34 from Telangana, 16 from Odisha, 105 from Nanderh Sahib, 6 from Delhi, 19 from Andhra Pradesh, 18 from Chhattisgarh. In all, 6600 people from other states came to Haryana with passes. Also, 208 people from Singapore, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and Philippines came to Haryana.

The spokesman said that the Chief Minister Mr. Manohar Lal, has been monitoring the arrangements made for sending migrant workers to their home states and the arrival of persons coming from other states to Haryana through video conferencing. A feedback was also being taken on a daily basis from the authorities.