New Delhi: The government has not talked about charging anything from migrant labourers as 85 per cent of the transportation cost is borne by the railways and 15 per cent by state governments, the Centre said on Monday amid a row over the national transporter allegedly charging the workers for ferrying them home during the COVID-19-induced lockdown.
The government also said the process of transporting the stranded migrant labourers was being coordinated by states except for one or two states.
Asked if the migrant labourers were being charged for being ferried home, Joint Secretary at the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said that as far as migrant labourers are concerned, the guidelines have clearly stated that under the infectious disease management one should stay where he or she is.
Based on the request given from states for particular cases, permission was given to run special trains. Be it government of India or the Railways, we have not talked about charging from workers. Eighty-five per cent of the transportation cost is borne by the Railways, while states have to bear 15 per cent of the cost, he told reporters.
Based on the request of the states the process that started, under which limited number of stranded migrant labourers have to be transported for a particular reason, is being coordinated by the state governments, except for one or two states, Agarwal said at the daily briefing on the COVID-19 situation.
News agency PTI, quoting sources, said that payments for 34 Shramik Special trains that have been run so far have been made by the state governments, barring Maharashtra.
A controversy erupted on Monday after several opposition parties demanded that migrant workers should not be charged for the train tickets. While the Congress offered to pay for them, the BJP said the railways was already providing subsidised tickets bearing 85 percent of the travel costs.
The railways is yet to issue an official statement on the issue, which it, unofficially, said was a "political battle", but officials have been maintaining that it was charging only standard fare for these special trains from the state governments which is just 15 percent of the total cost incurred.
Sources said states like Rajasthan, Telangana, where Shramik Special trains have originated, are paying for the migrants, while Jharkhand, which has only received such trains, has also paid for the travel of workers.
The Gujarat government has roped in an NGO to pay part of the travel cost, sources said, adding only the Maharashtra Government is charging the migrants for the trips.
Maharashtra state minister Nitin Raut has written a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray requesting him to bear the travel cost of migrants leaving the state.
On Sunday, Raut also wrote to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal requesting that the railways bear the cost of transportation of migrants from the state.
Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in a video statement on Monday said the state government has been giving money to railways for the transport of migrants.
"No migrant needs to pay for their travel," he said.
The Rajasthan government also said it will pay the train fare for migrant workers heading home. Chief minister Ashok Gehlot said the state government took the decision following directions from Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi hit out at the central government on Monday for making migrants pay for their train fare and asked her party's state units to pick the tab.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also took a swipe at the railways, saying on one hand it is seeking ticket fare from people stranded in various states while on the other it is donating Rs 151 crore to the PM-CARES Fund.
The railways is charging the fare of sleeper class tickets, plus a super-fast charge of Rs 30 and an additional charge of Rs 20 for the Shramik Special Trains.
(With PTI inputs)
