Desperate measure: Migrant workers gathered in Bandra earlier this month, defying the lockdown.
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu
Desperation might spark Bandra-like clashes, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar writes to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.
With just about 10 days to go for the lockdown to end on May 3, Maharashtra urged the Union government to plan and resume railway services for several lakh migrant labourers who want to return home.
In a letter to Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal on Thursday, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar warned of a possible repeat of the violent incidents at the Bandra railway station on April 14, when thousands of migrant labourers who had gathered hoping to return home had to be turned back.
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He appealed for advance planning for resuming train services to facilitate the return of nearly 6.5 lakh labourers. The special trains could originate from Mumbai and Pune to all major destinations in the country, he said, “to accommodate all such restless labourers”.
Warning of potential law and order problems, Mr. Pawar said Maharashtra has the highest number of migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other northern States.
While the State was providing