Arrange more special trains, buses, rest houses for migrant workers: MHA tells states

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday gave suggestions to states and union territories in order to mitigate the distress of migrant workers.

Amid the nationwide lockdown, several images and videos have surfaced on social media in which poor migrant workers have been trudging across hundreds of kilometers to return to their hometowns.

Hence, the centre has asked states and union territories to operate more special trains by pro-active coordination with the Ministry of Railways.

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Besides, the MHA has also suggested state governments to increase the capacity of buses for transporting migrants.

On Sunday, the MHA issued a new guideline on the fourth phase of lockdown in which it allowed interstate movement of passenger cars and buses with mutual consent between states.

Also read: Relief for stranded migrants! Inter-state movement of buses finally allowed

The MHA has also made an appeal to the state governments to arrange rest places, with adequate facilities for sanitation, food and healthcare, on routes where migrants were known to be already travelling on foot.

"District Authorities may guide workers moving on foot to designated rest places, nearby bus terminals or railway stations by arranging transportation," the MHA order said. "District Authorities may involve NGO representatives at rest places etc, to alleviate the notion of long quarantine at rest places," the home affairs ministry added.

Also read: UP govt accepts Priyanka Gandhi's request to run 1,000 buses for migrants

Also, the MHA said states and UTs to give special attention to the specific requirements of women, children and the elderly amongst the migrant workers. The centre also advised states to encourage workers to stay at places where they were.  Lastly, it urged the states to enlist the migrants with their addresses and contact numbers, which may be helpful in contact tracing in due course.

Also read: Coronavirus: Migrant worker from Odisha beaten to death by Surat Police