Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday expressed grief over the death of 24 migrant labourers who were killed in a road accident in Uttar Pradesh's Auraiya district and once again urged state governments to give permission for Shramik trains.
Earlier, Goyal had said that states including West Bengal, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand were not giving permission for enough 'shramik special' trains to enter their states.
"Deeply saddened by accident in Auraiya, Uttar Pradesh. My condolences to families of deceased and injured persons. Labourers are heading home on trucks which is dangerous. I request all states to give permission for 'shramik special' trains, so such incidents can be avoided," Goyal tweeted in Hindi on Saturday.
In yet another mishap involving migrants, 24 labourers were killed after the truck they were traveling in, collided with another truck in Uttar Pradesh's Auraiya district earlier today.
However, Goyal had commended Uttar Pradesh and Bihar on the issue saying that 80 per cent of the Shramik trains have been operated to these two states.
According to the Minister, as many as 1,034 Shramik special trains have been operated to ferry migrant workers stranded across the country back to their homes.
The Central government had on Friday said that 12 lakhs passengers have reached their home states by 'Shramik Special trains', which were introduced to move migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded at different places due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown.
( With inputs from ANI )