Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has requested the Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal in a letter to run as many as 28 trains to bring back migrants belonging to the state from different parts of the country.
In the letter, Baghel welcomed the Centre's move to run special trains to bring back migrants. He also requested the government to run trains free of cost for migrant workers on humtarian grounds.
In the letter, Baghel wrote, "The fight against COVID-19 has intensified in the country. Chhattisgarh is also combating COVID-19 with bravery. We have been able to contain this pandemic in the state to quite an extent. With the help of helpline and other information, it is known that about 1.17 lakh migrant workers are stranded in 21 states and four Union Territories of the country. If students and others are included then this count of stranded people will increase."
Baghel has requested for "seven trains from Jammu to Raipur-Bilaspur, three trains from Lucknow to Raipur-Bilaspur, two trains from Kanpur to Raipur-Bilaspur, one train from Chennai to Raipur-Bilaspur, one train from Bengaluru to Raipur-Bilaspur, two trains from Pune to Raipur-Bilaspur, Allahabad (Prayagraj) to Bilaspur one train, Delhi to Raipur-Bilaspur three trains, from Hyderabad-Secundrabad to Raipur-Bilaspur three trains, Vishakhapatnam to Raipur one train, Surat-Ahmedabad to Raipur one train, Kolkata to Raipur one train, Jaipur to Raipur one train, and Patna to Durg one train."
( With inputs from ANI )