Congress To Pay Migrants’ Fare, Says Sonia Gandhi




After the news coming that railways are charging stranded labourers to ferry them their homes, Congress party has decided to pay the Railways on behalf of the stranded labourers.

In a video message, Sonia Gandhi said it was “disturbing” that the centre was charging the migrants for train tickets.

“When our Government can recognise its responsibility by arranging free air travel for our citizens stranded abroad, when the government can spend nearly Rs 100 crores on transport and food etc. for just one public programme in Gujarat, when the Rail Ministry has the largesse to donate Rs 151 Crores to the PM’s Corona fund, then why can’t these essential members of our nation’s fabric be given a fraction of the same courtesy, especially free rail travel, at this hour of acute distress,” the Congress chief said.

The centre, she said, barely gave a four-hour notice of the lockdown, so workers and migrant labourers were stuck.

“Post the partition of 1947, this is the first time India witnessed a tragedy with such a massive human cost as thousands of migrant workers and labourers were forced to walk home several hundred kilometres on foot – without food, without medicines, without money, without transportation, without anything except for the desire to return to their families and loved ones,” she said, declaring that Congress state units would pay the fare for every needy worker and migrant.

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