With 14 of the 18 special trains so far transporting almost 18,000 migrant workers from Coimbatore district to their home towns, more workers here throng the local government offices every day, demanding more train services.
The district is estimated to have nearly one lakh migrant workers and the district administration is facilitating about 20,000 of them return home through the special trains. However, every day, there are reports of workers in different parts of the districts walking to the railway station or to the government offices nearby demanding train services for them to go back home.
“The district administration or the Railways should come forward to announce if there are plans for more trains, how the workers can register, etc. The migrant workers now do not want to come to work as they want to go home. They should have a clear information whether more train services are available,” said G. Arulmozhi, general secretary of Open end Spinning Mills Association.
District Collector K. Rajamani urged the workers not to approach the VAO office or the police stations. “The district administration has the list of workers, place-wise, who want to return to their hometowns. They will be informed through the respective tahsildars well in advance about the train timing. Transport arrangements will be made to help them reach the railway station. The fare is borne by the State Government,” he said.
Another official said there are at least 40 instances in the last few days in the district where the workers started walking in groups to the railway station and the police or tahsildar stopped them, spoke to them and sent them back to their accommodations.
“The workers want to go home and they do not want to stay back. In some cases they are even coming here from other districts. If they need to go by buses, the procedure is elaborate and the cost of travel is high. The industry owners should talk to the workers and encourage them to stay back. The workers also need to wait for train services,” the official said.
