150 Stranded Migrants Take Refuge At School In Secunderabad In Endless Wait For Shramik Special Tickets

At least 150 migrant workers have been forced to take shelter at a government-run primary school in Secunderabad after repeatedly failing to get confirmed railway tickets to their native states, The New Indian Express reported.

Majority of the trains are running in full capacity with reports of mismanaged schedule, delayed arrivals and tickets pushed to the waiting list due to sudden surge in the number of trains and overbooking of tickets.

Migrant labourers who have left their workplaces in the hope of getting a seat onboard the Shramik Special trains are being forced to spend nights on the streets outside the station due to such procedural delays.

The ones accommodated in the primary school were reportedly helped by NGOs and civil society organisations after their tickets to Bihar, Odisha and Bengal were pushed to the waiting list, compelling them to take roadside shelter without availability to food and facilities.

One of the workers narrated his ordeal, he could not find any work in Telangana's Kamareddy district. He had then travelled to Secunderabad after learning that there is only one train scheduled to his home state, Bihar. He and others with him booked the train tickets but it did not get confirmed and since then he has stayed on the streets of the city, with nowhere to go.

Reportedly, it was on June 7 that they moved into a vacant government school, from where they attempted to book tickets for the second time.

"We are not educated and cannot read. With great difficulty, we got someone to cancel our tickets on June 10 and received the refund. Now, we have booked it again, but we're still on the waitlist," said one of the workers.

The group has nearly eight pregnant women and over 25 children below the age of 10.

The Supreme Court on May 28, passed a slew of orders to ease the miseries of migrant workers who are desperate to reach their hometowns amid the coronavirus lockdown.

The top court directed the Centre and the State governments to send all stranded migrant workers back to their native villages within 15 days. Also, it held that trains or buses cannot charge any fare and the workers must be provided free food while they wait to board their respective transportation.

The orders also directed that the originating state will be responsible to provide food and water at stations. However, such incidents are examples of failed execution on the part of the central and state governments to ensure a dignified return to the internal workers who contribute nearly 10 per cent to India's GDP.

Several reports have also brought attention to the concerns regarding booking tickets on a Shramik Special train. With most of these migrant workers being uneducated and unaware, having registration portals and dedicated applications without a redressal system ends up them having to pay someone to book tickets, adding to their hardship during the financial crisis.

Also Read: COVID-19 Crisis Could Push Millions Of Children Into Child Labour: United Nations