The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) on Monday said it had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking the government not to charge stranded migrant workers for travel on special trains arranged for them to return to their home States.
The trade union movement had been asking the government to arrange for transportation for migrant workers from the beginning of the lockdown on March 25, it wrote.
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“Although quite late, resulting in so many casualties among the destitute workers and their family members, we welcome the recent move of the government on the eve of the third phase of lockdown in the matter of arranging special trains for the movement of stranded migrant workers. At the same time we like to point out that it is totally unjust, rather a cruelty to make stranded migrant workers pay the train fare for availing those special trains to return to their home states,” it said.
Workers had lost their incomes during the lockdown and were facing starvation. “Therefore, CITU urges upon you to please intervene so that the stranded migrant workers are allowed to travel on Shramik special trains free of cost and the Central government must bear the financial responsibility,” the letter stated.
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The workers travelling on these trains should be given food, safety gear and medical attention, it added.
