In a shocking discovery, hundreds of migrant workers from West Bengal were ferried by the local Police on May 30 to the Pune railway station, only to be left to their fate when the Police discovered that there was no space on the train carrying workers back to Bengal.
In a glaring instance of mismanagement by the state government and local authorities responsible for inter-state travel of migrant workers, nearly 400 workers were asked to fend for themselves as the train leaving for Bengal on the afternoon of May 30 had no vacancy left.
After accommodating nearly 1,548 workers, the remaining ones working in the rural areas of Pune in Maharashtra were left to brave the situation themselves. Complaining that they won’t be given shelter by their employers or house-owners upon return, many contemplated living off the streets until transport was arranged to ferry them back to their native places.
In a report by The Indian Express, a migrant worker, Vijay Das from Nadia district in Bengal expressed his anguish over the situation saying despite the Police’s assurance that the workers would be allotted seats in the train, they were left to overcome the crisis on their own once the train was declared full.
‘Two days ago, the police had brought us to Pune station in a similar fashion. We queued up for several hours but were later told that the train was full. They dropped us back to Talegaon station, from where we walked for three hours to Kanhe, a distance of about 11 km. When I received a call from them on Saturday morning, I asked repeatedly if a train seat was 100 percent confirmed. The police told us they will ensure that we get in the train and they will leave the premises only after we are seated. We were brought here and queued up, but after a few hours, they stopped taking in persons. They said the train was full.’
As per reports, many were even beaten up or abused upon questioning the Police. Railway Authorities said the Pune-Howrah Shramik Special train left the station at 4 pm with 1,548 passengers, and there was no other train scheduled for West Bengal on Saturday. They also denied being aware of the presence of nearly 600 migrant workers, some who had traveled to the station themselves, being queued up at the station for no less than five hours.
Sub-Divisional Officer Subhash Bhagade was of the opinion that abandoning the workers was not right and that the buses which brought them to the station should have carried them back to their houses too.
‘300 extra workers were brought to Pune station to catch a train, we will ascertain if there are enough migrants from Bengal who are willing to go home and whether a special train should be run. ‘If there are about 1,000 workers, we will place a demand and ply a train for them,’ said Bhagade.
Pune District Collector Naval Kishore Ram said authorities are planning to run a train for these migrants by co-ordinating with Ahmednagar district authorities, where about 500-600 migrant workers from Bengal are stranded.
Also Read: At Least 10 Migrants On Board Shramik Special Trains Died Since Monday, Railways Says Most Of Them Were Patients
