Was the whole issue of migrant labourers over-hyped by the Congress, the Left and a section of pliant media? It appears so. The Opposition whipped up passions on the Migrant labourers issue and the aim was to target the Modi government. However, when the government provided trains for the migrant labourers to reach their home states, there were not many takers. More intriguingly, except for Bihar and UP, many other states are not even willing to take back their people.
The Maharashtra government was provided with 250 trains by the railways. But, it could not use more than 100 trains as the migrants weren't willing to leave. When the trains were arranged at Bandra station, the passengers notified in the list failed to turn up. So far 3740 Shramik expresses have been operated. On an average, the railways operated 256 trains per day. According to the railway ministry sources, the railways has provided 1.19 crore meals to the migrant labourers in the Shramik Trains. The state governments too provided 54 lakh meals. Despite all these, there is little enthusiasm on the part of the migrant labourers to go back to their native states.
States like West Bengal have refused to allow the migrant labourers and ill treated those who managed to land in the state. They have been kept quarantined in places with little and no amenities. This has led to several complaints and some quarantined migrants running away from these facilities.
The Maharashtra government was provided with 250 trains by the railways. But, it could not use more than 100 trains as the migrants weren't willing to leave. When the trains were arranged at Bandra station, the passengers notified in the list failed to turn up. So far 3740 Shramik expresses have been operated. On an average, the railways operated 256 trains per day. According to the railway ministry sources, the railways has provided 1.19 crore meals to the migrant labourers in the Shramik Trains. The state governments too provided 54 lakh meals. Despite all these, there is little enthusiasm on the part of the migrant labourers to go back to their native states.
States like West Bengal have refused to allow the migrant labourers and ill treated those who managed to land in the state. They have been kept quarantined in places with little and no amenities. This has led to several complaints and some quarantined migrants running away from these facilities.