Karnataka contacting every registered migrant for train journey: Official

In order to facilitate the journey of every migrant worker back home, the Internal Security Division of Karnataka police is contacting each and every registered migrant labourer. The control room contacting the migrants is led by a DSP rank officer and a team of policemen.

Bengaluru (Karnataka):The Internal Security Division (ISD) of the Karnataka Police is contacting each and every registered migrant labourer to arrange a train journey back home, an official said on Tuesday.

"A control room in the ISD is working 24x7 to reach out to each and every migrant registered on the Seva Sindhu app to make arrangements for the train journey," P.S. Sandhu, Additional Director General of Police, ISD, said.

Sandhu is spearheading migrant labourers' mobilisation to the railway stations for onward journey to their respective home states.

"The respective state governments (home states of migrants) gave us a list of migrant labourers interested to go home. We also allow migrants to register on the Seva Sindhu app," he said.

The control room contacting the migrants is led by a DSP rank officer and a team of policemen.

"When my number was shared on April 30, I received more than 2,000 phone calls and numerous WhatsApp messages from people interested to return home," he said.

Sandhu handed over his phone to the control room team to contact every migrant to arrange for their return.

Once the formalities are completed, the migrants are advised to gather at a particular location to be ferried in KSRCTC buses to the designated railway station, supervised by the local Deputy Commissioner of Police, on completion of medical screening.

"The migrants go through multiple checks and verification, their details are scrutinised on the Seva Sindhu app, Aarogya Setu app and state government list," said Sandhu.

The details of the migrants approved for the journey are shared with the home state authorities, including the number of migrants arriving and the departure time, among others.

"During the journey in the train, physical distancing is being maintained, and vestibules connecting the train compartments are shut to restrict movement," he said.

Though the senior police officer could not share the details of the migrants walking or cycling back home, he said each and every phone number registered to return home is being contacted to discourage migrants from walking or cycling back home.

Sandhu said the trains are also being delayed for migrants to arrive in case of they are late just to ensure that nobody is left behind.

Internally within the state, between May 2 and May 7, the state government has transported more than one lakh local migrants to their hometowns for free on KSRTC buses.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka labour department has served 32,000 meals to departing migrant labourers in trains from this tech city amid the Covid-19 lockdown.

"We have been entrusted with the job of supplying food to the departing migrant labourers in trains. The labour department has served 32,000 portions of food to the departing migrants," a labour department official told said.

On Monday, six trains left the city with 7,841 migrants to different northern states. Similarly, 6,860 migrants, including students from Jammu & Kashmir, left in trains on Sunday.

On Saturday, three trains with 3,600 people left the city for north India.

IANS report.