Piyush Goyal takes aim at Uddhav Thackeray over Shramik Special Trains
Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday came down heavily on Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government and said it was responsible for the plight of migrant labourers in the state. Goyal said that Maharashtra was experiencing “total collapse of administrative machinery with no political leadership”.
Goyal said that though the Railway Ministry was ready to run trains to take migrant labourers back to their states, the inaction of Maharashtra Government meant that enough number of trains could not be run. He termed it a ‘failure’ of the Maharashtra government that passengers could not be brought to railway stations.
“There is a total collapse of administrative machinery in Maharashtra with no political leadership,” Piyush Goyal told ANI. Goyal is Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra.
On Tuesday, Piyush Goyal tweeted that Railway Ministry planned to run 145 Shramik Special Trains but only 13 could depart due to less number of travellers. Goyal drew attention to the fact that hordes of migrant labourers gathered in different parts of Mumbai but trains were, ironically, empty.
I request Maharashtra Government to fully cooperate in ensuring that the distressed migrants are able to reach their homes and bring passengers to Stations in time, and not cause further delays. It will affect the entire network and planning.
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) May 26, 2020
Goyal said that unless Maharashtra Government provided information such as destination, stoppages, number of passengers and their distribution in trains, it was not possible to run these trains. He appealed to Maharashtra Government for co-operation.
During his interaction with ANI, he alleged that Maharashtra was not responding to communication from other states.
“41 trains were due to go to West Bengal. The state, still recovering from Cyclone Amphan, said that they could only receive 2 trains. But Maharashtra did not co-ordinate with West Bengal and West Bengal officials got no reply from the western state,” said Goyal.
“What joy are they (Maharashtra) getting in spreading wrong information and politicising the issue?” he asked.
Railways also rubbished Maharashtra Government’s claim that the ministry provided 30-40 trains while the state had asked for 80.
He criticised Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut for his remarks suggesting displeasure about Railway Ministry.
Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said that 65 trains had to be cancelled as Maharashtra government could not arrange to bring passengers to the railway station.
Even as he lambasted Maharashtra Government, Piyush Goyal praised work done by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.
“Maharaj Yogi Adityanath and Nitish Kumar have embraced all who came by trains,” Goyal said.
