Punjab govt helps 1.10 lakh migrants to reach their home states amid lockdown

The Punjab government on Wednesday informed that it has spent more than Rs 6 crore to fund the movement of migrants and helped 1.10 lakh stranded migrants in the state to reach their native states.

"The Punjab government has been facilitating the return of migrants to their native states. Till now, more than 90 trains have left Punjab taking 1,10,000 migrants to their states. The state government has spent more than Rs 6 crore to fund the movement of these migrants till now," read an official statement.

State Nodal Officer, Railways, Vikas Pratap, informed that this return is being carried out with the collaboration of railway authorities of Ferozpur division and Ambala division. He further said that more than 15 trains are going to depart daily taking migrants to their homes in the coming days.

According to the statement, the maximum number of trains are going from Ludhiana.

"Till now, 36 trains have taken passengers to their home states from there. Similarly, 31 trains have gone from Jalandhar to different parts of the country. Other places from where trains have departed are Patiala, Mohali, Bathinda and Sirhind. In the coming days, trains shall also depart from Ferozpur Cantt. and Doraha," it added.

He stated that maximum trains are going to Uttar Pradesh followed by Bihar and Jharkhand. "The Punjab government is also sending trains to Chhattisgarh, Mpur, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh to mitigate the difficulties of the migrants of these states," the statement added.

Pratap said that Punjab has appointed nodal officers for all these states who are pro-actively connecting to their counterparts in other states to facilitate the return of the migrants.

All the Deputy Commissioners of the state have constituted teams for the mandatory medical screening of migrants. Only those are being allowed to board the trains who are found to be asymptomatic.

( With inputs from ANI )