Hapless migrants 'forced' to pay train fare, opposition upset

New Delhi: The Railway Ministry's move to get migrant labourers to pay their way home and the states to collect that payment, is becoming the new flashpoint between the government and the opposition. As the countrywide lockdown to combat the coronavirus was extended for another two weeks, the centre started running special trains since Friday to ferry stranded labourers to their home states, according to NDTV report.

But contrary to the states' demand, it is charging the migrant labourers. A copy of a railway circular in reads: "The local government authorities shall handover the tickets to the passengers cleared by them and collect the ticket fare and handover the total amount to the railways.

"With the state governments in charge of issuing the tickets and collecting the fees, many states, mostly those ruled by the opposition, are apprehensive of a political fallout. The states ruled by non-BJP parties have been demanding that the centre bears the cost of travel. In a tweet, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said it was "highly shameful" that the BJP government was charging the vulnerable labourers for the train ride home. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren had also made a similar point