The Odisha government on Sunday expressed concern over not being given prior information about the movement of Shramik Special trains to the state from outside, saying it creates problems in making arrangements for the returnees. Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena requested the Odia migrants stranded in different parts of the country due to the COVID-19 lockdown to provide details before leaving for their destinations in Odisha in advance.

Jena said the state government was able to get the details about the migrant Odia workers through their registration with the state portal earlier and allowed them into the state. Since May 3, as many as 2,55,404 Odias have returned to Odisha by train, bus and other vehicles.

The Centre had earlier shared departure and arrival details of Shramik Special trains with the state government, Jena said. However, Shramik Special trains are now being run without any prior information, which makes it difficult for the state government to know the exact number of the migrants returning to the state, he said.

Citing an example, the SRC said, though there was information about 20,000 odd migrant people returning to Odisha in 12 Shramik Special trains from Telangana on Sunday, details about the passengers and their destinations were not known, the SRC said.

Jena said the state government requests the migrant workers to provide details regarding the train they have boarded and the time and place of their arrival so that arrangements can be made to send them to their respective destinations.

Noting that the state government had provided Rs 5.5 crore to the Railways towards ticket fare of the migrants returning to Odisha, he said people returning without prior information, may face difficulty in availing the free ticket facility.

The SRC also requested the Railways to provide details of the passengers in Shramik Specials and stoppage of the trains in Odisha before departure. Jena also requested the Odia people in different states to provide the details of the migrants prior to their arrival in Odisha.

It is not just Odisha government facing problems from the Railway Ministry.

In an address to the state on Sunday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Thackeray said that while he had demanded 80 migrant special trains per day for the state to ferry migrants home, it was getting only 40. In return, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal took a dig at the Maharashtra CM through a tweet, saying the Railways was ready to send as many trains as required to states, provided they do not “return empty”.