Representative image (PTI)
NEW DELHI: The railways took important decisions on Tuesday to increase the flow of migrants to states, though the measures might increase friction between the Centre and some opposition governments, as the consent of receiving states was done away with and the commencement of 200 scheduled ticketed trains daily from June 1 announced.
The new trains will be apart from the Shramik Specials and will be non-AC with regular booking. As far as the Shramik Specials are concerned, there was a significant change in procedure soon after the home ministry issued a revised standard operating procedure (SOP) that did away with the consent of the receiving state. While this might be resented by some states like West Bengal that have clashed with the Centre on the special trains, it could be politically awkward to display a reluctance to receive residents who will also need to be quarantined on arrival.
A few hours after the change in Shramik Special rules, the railway ministry announced that while t