The West Bengal government is
taking necessary measures to send home labourers stuck in the state, and was coordinating with officials concerned to decide on the mode of transit for their return, a top official said.
Several states have requested Bengal to make arrangements for the return of the labourers to their native places in different parts of the country, he said.
"It's being planned. We are talking to officials in the respective states which have urged us to facilitate the return of people stuck here. A request needs to be made to the Railways for a special train to ferry the labourers back home.
"There are options for sending some of them home via road. We are looking into it," the official said.
Nearly 1,000 people from Rajasthan and hundreds from neighbouring Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, who had come to Bengal for work, were recently sent home.
According to the official, the Bengal government has sought clarity on the expenses likely to be incurred for sending these people back via train or bus.
"The expenses can be borne by the district magistrate of the place, where the train originates from or terminates. The official can later claim the amount spent on the tickets from the disaster relief fund," he stated.
West Bengal has provided shelter to around 50,000 migrant labourers from different states at over 700 relief camps, amid the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.
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