Rail fare row: Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala not paying for migrant labourers' travel

Amidst criticism over the railways charging stranded migrant workers for ferrying them home, payments for 45 special trains that have run so far have been made by originating states, barring Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka, sources said on Monday.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in a press conference on Monday also ruled out paying the fare for migrant workers.

Sources said states like Rajasthan, Telangana and Gujarat -- from where Shramik Special trains have originated -- are paying on behalf of the the migrant workers, while Jharkhand, which has only received such trains, has also paid for the travel of workers.

The Gujarat government has roped in an NGO to pay part of the travel cost, sources said.

States like Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka -- from where some trains originated -- are charging the labourers for the trips, the sources said.

A controversy erupted on Monday after several opposition parties demanded that migrant workers not be charged for the train tickets.

As the Congress offered to pay for the workers, the BJP hit back, saying the railways was already providing subsidised tickets bearing 85 percent of the travel costs.

In the Standard Operating Procedures for these Shramik Special Trains, the railways had said on Saturday the "local state government shall handover the tickets for these passengers cleared by them and collect the ticket fare and hand over the total amount to Railways."
When asked if the state has any plans to bear the ticket charges, he said, "No. The state government was not planning for anything like that."