Railway fare row: BJP flays Congress; states paying for migrants' train journey barring Maharashtra

New Delhi: A controversy erupted on Monday after Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi and several opposition parties demanded that migrant workers should not be charged for the train tickets. The Congress chief offered to pay for these workers while questioning Indian Railways that it can give a fund of Rs 151 crore to PM-CARES fund but not allowing poor people free travel facility.

The BJP, however, said the railways has been providing subsidised tickets bearing 85 percent of the travel costs, while the rest of 15 per cent cost will be borne by states.

The BJP spokesperson, Sambit Patra, took to social and tweeted, Rahul Gandhi ji, I have attached guidelines of MHA which clearly states that “No tickets to be sold at any station” Railways has subsidised 85% & State govt to pay 15% The State govt can pay for the tickets(Madhya Pradesh’s BJP govt is paying) Ask Cong state govts to follow suit".

Rahul Gandhi ji,
I have attached guidelines of MHA which clearly states that “No tickets to be sold at any station”
Railways has subsidised 85% & State govt to pay 15%
The State govt can pay for the tickets(Madhya Pradesh’s BJP govt is paying)
Ask Cong state govts to follow suit https://t.co/Hc9pQzy8kQ pic.twitter.com/2RIAMyQyjs — Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) May 4, 2020

He further said, "And this is how the Congress-ruled State Governments can pay the 15% for the Migrant workers (85% being taken care of by the Railways) rather than politicising the otherwise smooth process taken up by the railways. 

And this is how the Congress ruled State Governments can pay the 15% for the Migrant workers (85% being taken care of by the Railways) rather than politicising the otherwise smooth process taken up by the railways. https://t.co/Axtmen5nY9 pic.twitter.com/RNQdcfNBvB — Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) May 4, 2020

The non-BJP ruled states including Kerala, Rajasthan and Maharashtra have extracted fares from migrant workers, said Railways, while other states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Telangana have provided free travel facility to the workers.

According to Indian Railways, it has asked the state governments to pay only 15% of the fare of the operating price and the same is being paid by each state. So far, many states paid this amount to Railways while others are in the process.

Notably, railways is not issuing tickets directly to passengers, but extending this facility only in those states which are asking for the same. It also added that merely operating cost is charged from the states and the trains are coming empty from these places as the cost also includes this cost. 

So far, Railways has provided the services of 39 trains to several states.

States like Jharkhand have extended payment to railways, while there are some states that wanted to send labourers to other states, therefore, have asked for the trains and paid the fare. Most of the states gave money to the railways but did not charge from the stranded labourers. 

Only states like Kerala, Rajasthan and Maharashtra have so far collected the fare from the labourers to send them to their native state. There are 15 states that have sought trains for send stranded labourers. 

A senior railways official told PTI, "The railways are running Shramik special trains keeping berths empty in each coach to maintain social distancing. The trains are returning empty from destinations under lock and key. Free food and bottled water are being given to migrants by the railways, adding "We have run 34 such trains so far and we will continue to do so. Nowhere in our SOP, we have said that the fares be collected from travelling migrants." 

The Gujarat government has reportedly roped in an NGO to pay part of the travel cost, while the Maharashtra government is charging the migrants for the trips. 

Maharashtra state minister Nitin Raut has written a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray requesting him to bear the travel cost of migrants leaving the state. On Sunday, Raut also wrote to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal requesting that the railways bear the cost of transportation of migrants from the state.

In a video statement today, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that the state government has been giving money to railways for the transport of migrants, adding "No migrant needs to pay for their travel." 

The railways is charging the fare of sleeper class tickets, plus a super-fast charge of Rs 30 and an additional charge of Rs 20 for the Shramik Special Trains.