The Ministry of Railways on Monday said it had ferried 60 lakh migrants through “Shramik Special” trains since they were launched last mont...
The Ministry of Railways on Monday said it had ferried 60 lakh migrants through “Shramik Special” trains since they were launched last month and that the average fare per passenger was Rs 600.
At a press conference, Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav said that the government has run 4,450 trains so far. He added that the railways generated a revenue of around Rs 360 crore by running the special trains. “We managed to recover only 15% of cost of operations, 85% of the cost is being borne by the Centre,” Yadav said.
Yadav’s statement is in line with what the Centre and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have claimed so far. They have claimed that the Ministry of Railways has subsidised the fare of train tickets for migrant workers by 85% and state governments have been asked to pay the remaining 15% on their behalf. This came after Congress President Sonia Gandhi tore into the Centre for its decision to charge migrant workers for providing special trains home amid the nationwide lockdown and said the party’s state units will pay for their train travel.
Yadav added that he had written to the state governments again to ask them if they needed more special trains, after the Supreme Court on June 9 directed...
