Six more trains ferry migrants from Telangana

Six more special trains carrying over 6,000 migrant workers left Telangana for various states, officials said on Wednesday.

The trains left for Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. According to Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat, six trains were run on the intervening night of May 5 and 6.

The trains departed from Ghatkesar, Charlapally and Bibinagar railway stations near Hyderabad. They were flagged off by collectors of Hyderabad, Medchal and Yadadri Bhuvangiri districts and officials from Rachakonda police commissionerate.

Two trains for Bihar and Jharkhand departed from Bibi Nagar railway station in Yadadri Bhuvangiri district early morning.

Migrant workers from Yadadri Bhuvangiri and other districts were brought to the railway station by buses late Tuesday night

A team of 50 personnel from the health department led by District Medical and Health Officer screened the workers before allowing them into the station.

Officials said all necessary arrangements were made for the smooth journey of the workers. Yadadri Bhuvangiri District Collector Anitha Ramchandran along with senior officials supervised the arrangements at the railway station.

The workers expressed their happiness on returning to their home states after a long wait. They said they had registered their names with the police stations concerned and they were informed about the travel arrangements accordingly.

With this, the number of special trains operated for migrant workers from Telangana rose to eight. The first train had left for Jharkhand on May 1 while the second departed for Bihar in the early hours of May 5.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao late on Tuesday said 11 trains carrying migrants would leave, including five for Bihar, two each for Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and one each for Jharkhand and Rajasthan.

However, the information about the trains is kept confidential to avoid entry of unauthorized persons at railway stations.

The Chief Minister had said after the state Cabinet meeting that the migrant workers can't be sent in thousands and lakhs as this needs consent from their home states.

He said he spoke to Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other states and they wanted Telangana to send the list of the workers who wanted to return so that proper arrangements could be made for their transport to respective districts and villages.

"I wanted to send 40 trains but we need consent from those states," he said.

The Chief Minister said the trains carrying migrant workers to Bihar will come back with 20,000 to 25,000 workers from Bihar who work in rice mills in Telangana. A train which left early Tuesday to Bihar will bring 1,200 workers from there.