21 bundles of joy onboard Shramik specials

New Delhi: Mamta Yadav boarded a Shramik Special train on May 8 at Gujarat's Jamnagar. She was travelling single. But, by the time her destination station in Bihar arrived she had a companion in her arms.

Since Shramik Special trains started operating, they have witnessed births of 21 babies onboard, officials say.

Mamta had decided to board the train in very difficult times: everybody was battling a coronavirus outbreak, her husband had lost his job as a factory worker in Jamnagar due to the lockdown, she was in advance stage of pregnancy and the home was hundreds of kilometers away.

But she made the tough choice, and on May 8 decided to take the Jamnagar-Muzaffarpur Shramik Special train to be with her mother at her village in Chhapra district of Bihar for the birth of the baby.

Officials say the train left the Jamnagar stations at 8 pm. Mamta, 35, began to experience the labour pain around the midnight. Though the Railways had said that Shramik Special would be non-stop, this train was stopped at the Agra Fort station so that she could get the medical attention she needed.

Officials said that doctors were alerted by the on board staff as the train approached Agra Fort station around 4.30 am. Mamta's compartment was turned into a labour room of sorts with other passengers moving out. A team of doctors along with railway staff supervised Mamta's condition as she delivered a healthy baby girl, official said.

"We have a well-oiled system to deal with medical emergencies, said railway spokesperson RD Bajpai. Whenever a passenger needs help, our onboard staff alerts the station where medical aid is available next and the doctors who live in railway colonies around the station are always there to deal with any emergency, he said. We are happy that we managed to provide help in time every time and in each case the baby and the mother have been healthy," Mamta and her little one were allowed to continue their journey, officials said.