The Tamil Nadu government has decided to bear the expenses towards the travel of migrant workers, in case they or their native States are not able to pay for special trains, when arranged.
“If individual migrants or the receiving States are not in a position to pay the cost of transit (including the cost of train tickets), the same will be paid by the government of Tamil Nadu under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF),” the revised SOP issued in this regard on Thursday stated.
Adequate food and water arrangements will be ensured for persons boarding the train, as these will be point-to-point trains.
“We will raise the bill and send it to the States, if they are not reimbursing, we will allot funds from the SDRF,” a senior official said.
The rail ticket alone will cost about ₹11 lakh a train. The ticket for each passenger will cost around ₹1,000 and about 1,100 passengers are accommodated on a train. Besides the rail ticket, travel expenses will also include arrival till the railway station and travel from the destination railway station to the hometown.
Two special trains will arrive in Tamil Nadu from Gujarat and Maharashtra on Saturday. “One will arrive in Tiruchi and the other in Villupuram,” an official said.
Each train will transport about 1,100 passengers. While the train from Maharashtra will bring passengers from Satara and another city, the train from Gujarat will bring passengers from Surat and Ahmedabad.
For the movement of a large number of stranded migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and others, nodal officers from sending and receiving States will consult and decide on special trains. For the movement of a small group of people, State transport buses will be engaged on request. “If the recipient State wants to engage their own buses or private buses or request special trains, the same may also be permitted,” it stated.
Checking at borders
As for persons coming to Tamil Nadu, the SOP stated that passes issued by TNeGA would be checked for all individuals/groups of people at the borders. They would be allowed to go to their respective home districts where such persons would be screened for COVID-19. “If they turn symptomatic, they will be tested for COVID-19. If results return positive, they will be isolated and sent to a hospital/care centre depending on their symptoms,” it stated.
If they are asymptomatic, they will be asked to remain under home quarantine for 28 days, or in high-risk cases, they will continue to be put under quarantine and kept under watch with frequent health check-ups.
“Poor persons and labourers who cannot afford to be under a safe home quarantine, and high-risk persons, returning from hotspots [States and cities with a high incidence of COVID-19 outbreak], should be put on compulsory institutional quarantine for 14 days i.e., till two tests return negative,” it stated.
