The politics over the Shramik special railway fare!
In times of the present pandemic, the politics to score more among other political parties has been a regular feature in India.
After the allegation on the Markaz people, to spread the coronavirus alarmingly and put every citizen on the point of insecurity, now the political boil is railway tickets which the migrant workers have to procure to travel back to their home town.
Early morning on 4th May 2020 Sonia Government made a direct attack on the BJP Central Government, The Congress president said
“What is particularly disturbing is that the Central government and the Rail Ministry are charging them for train tickets in this hour of crisis.”
Sonia Gandhi added:
“The Indian National Congress has, therefore, taken a decision that every Pradesh Congress Committee shall bear the cost for the rail travel of every needy worker and migrant labourer and shall take necessary steps in this regard.”
She brought the entire issue by saying
” 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 kilometers on foot — without food, without medicines, without money, without transportation, without anything except for the desire to return to their families and loved ones. The very thought of their plight is enough to break our hearts as there was also the outpouring of support from fellow Indians for their inspiring resolve. Our workers and labourers are the ambassadors of our nation’s growth. When our government can recognise its responsibility by arranging free air travel for our citizens stranded abroad, when the government can spend nearly ₹100 crores on transport and food etc. for just one public programme in Gujarat when the Rail Ministry has the largesse to donate ₹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.”
Sonia Gandhi ended the press conference saying:
“humble contribution the Congress would stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with the workers.”
Soon after the press conference, Rahul Gandi tweeted:
एक तरफ रेलवे दूसरे राज्यों में फँसे मजदूरों से टिकट का भाड़ा वसूल रही है वहीं दूसरी तरफ रेल मंत्रालय पीएम केयर फंड में 151 करोड़ रुपए का चंदा दे रहा है।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 4, 2020
जरा ये गुत्थी सुलझाइए! pic.twitter.com/qaN0k5NwpG
Addressing an online press conference, party general secretary K.C. Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala said the government’s move was an afterthought and asserted that the party had already paid ₹1 crore to the BJP government in Karnataka to facilitate smooth travel of migrant labour and workers.
Therefore making an attempt for an instant political score among the migrant workers and pushing the BJP for their version.
The BJP spokesman Sambit Patra came forward and since yesterday has been participating in interviews and debates giving the central governments version:
Railways will bear 85% of the fare whereas the rest 15% will be borne by the state government. He further added that this is mentioned in the Railway guidelines.
In his tweet, he presents proof of how the BJP owned states are managing the railway fare.
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
Soon after this, it is said that the Congress on Monday released a copy of the Indian Railways guidelines claiming that it is mentioned that the fare had to be collected from the passenger.
Upon investigation, it was found that that the only states who were charging from the migrant workers are Kerala, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. In Rajasthan, Congress is the sole ruling party whereas in Kerala and Maharashtra Congress is a part of the coalition government. Upon asking why fares have been charged? the local government rebuts by saying that if the fare is not charged from the migrant workers then it will lead to a massive crowd in railway stations which will be difficult for the police and corona warriors to manage.
Note: The cost of the fare is calculated as the total of the passengers travel from one place to another, food plus water provided to them during the journey and the return journey the train “Shramik Special” has to make.
It seems obvious that the Congress wants to make an indirect political gain out of the railway fare issue. In the future, one can find that the Congress leaders repeating their initiative for the migrant workers. On the other hand, the BJP will directly gain only when they are able to rid the country from Covid 19 and put the economy on the fast-growing track.
Anuj Maurya