Odisha government to bear cost of migrants' train tickets

Bhubaneswar, May 18 (IANS) The Odisha government on Monday announced that it will bear the cost of transport of stranded migrant workers arriving by 'Shramik Special' trains if the host state refuses to do so."It has been decided that, in case, if the sending state is not bearing the cost of the train tickets for the labourers, Government of Odisha will bear the cost of the train tickets of the labourers. The train tickets cost will be adjusted against quarantine incentive of the returnees," an official statement said.Earlier, the state government had announced an incentive of Rs 2,000 for each returnee going into quarantine.The Union government had announced that it would bear 85 per cent of the ticket cost of migrant labourers while 15 per cent will be borne by the state governments.Meanwhile, the East Coast Railway said it has handled 60 Odisha-bound Shramik Special trains till May 17.
--IANS cd/vd