The whole of India has been under lockdown from March 25th and all the state & district borders have been sealed with public transportation being grounded and only transport of essential commodities being allowed! However, this has caused a lot of suffering to migrant workers, students and tourists, who got stranded in other places, when the lockdown was enforced. With no means to travel back to their hometowns, many people were finding it hard for even basic essentials for their day-to-day lives. Now, the Ministry of Home Affairs has approved travel for stranded migrant workers, students and  tourists to return to their hometowns.

The MHA is planning to run special point-to-point trains for helping these people return home. The Ministry of Railways (MoR) will designate Nodal Officers for coordinating with the States & Union Territories for the movement of the stranded people. The MoR would issue separate guidelines for sale of tickets, social distancing and other measures to be followed within these special trains. Meanwhile, the first train carrying about 1200 migrant workers will be leaving Kerala to Odisha. This train will start today (May 01st) evening from Aluva to Bubaneshwar. The migrant workers, who had earlier been lodged in special camps in Ernakulam would be brought to the station in Government buses and the train is expected to start at 6:00 pm. Stay tuned for updates...

Check out the Ministry of Home Affairs circular here: