AP Govt To Send Migrants Home Through Spl Trains And Buses On Humanitarian Grounds

VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh Government as per the directions of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has decided to send the migrant workers in the state to their home towns, by special buses and trains on humanitarian grounds due to the coronovirus lockdown.

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Speaking to the media on Sunday COVID-19 State Coordinator Krishna Babu said that a circular has also been issued by the Andhra Pradesh Government specifically regarding to migrant workers welfare during the lockdown and that the Government would bear the travel expenses.

He said that we are all aware that amid lockdown in the state, migrant labourers have decided to return to their native places and are walking thousands of kilometres to reach their states.

''To repatriate them on humanitarian grounds, the state has decided to shift them through trains and buses operated from the state funded by the government,'' he said.

''As many as 4,661 persons have been sent to the relief centres for the past three days," Krishna Babu said.

"We have arranged for an RTC bus at each check post, and people from Odisha are being sent to Ganjam by bus," he said. He said that three bogies were specially allotted for the migrant workers on each train going from AP.

After speaking to the Tamil Nadu DGP, the number of people who were walking from there has greatly reduced, he said. "Another thousand people from Odisha are going to be sent their hometowns today,'' he said. Five 'Shramik trains' from Andhra Pradesh with these migrant workers will head off to various states on Sunday," Krishna Babu said.

He also said that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy instructed officials not to use force or lathi charge against the migrant workers and ensure their safe return.

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