Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday directed the Deputy Commissioners and the District Police Chiefs to ensure that no migrant is forced to walk home to any other State in the country, or to remain hungry while in Punjab.
“Any migrant found walking on the road should be transported by bus by the police to the nearest place from where he can board a train or bus to his native State,” said the Chief Minister.
He appealed to migrants not to try to undertake arduous journey by foot to their native place as the State government is making all necessary arrangements for their travel by trains or buses.
The Chief Minister said that more than 10 lakh people have registered on the State portal for outbound movement from Punjab. The State government has undertaken a validation exercise of all registered persons by making individual phone calls to re-ascertain whether or not they are keen to return to their native States. “This is being done in view of the fact that in the past 3-4 days around two-thirds of the industrial units in the State have commenced operations after easing of restrictions, following which the number of persons keen to travel out of Punjab has reduced considerably,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that the 300th special Shramik train departed from Patiala for Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. “By Sunday night, 311 Special Shramik trains carrying more than 3.90 lakh passengers would have been sent from different districts of Punjab to various States of India, including States of southern India and the North-East,” he said.
15 new cases
Meanwhile, fifteen fresh COVID-19 cases surfaced on Sunday in Punjab taking the tally to 2,060. One death was also reported, according to an official statement.
The Health department said the major chunk of new cases, seven and four, were reported from Pathankot and Hoshiarpur districts respectively. The active cases are 122 and 1,898 patients have so far recovered, it added.
