The lockdown announced on March 24 to contain the spread of the Wuhan virus left several migrant workers stranded across the country. However, going by the trends of mortality rate and case doubling rate, it can be said that the situation is gradually improving. In light of this, the central government decided to gradually ease the lockdown with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issuing guidelines for activities to be undertaken in red, orange and green zones. To facilitate the travel of stranded migrant workers who are asymptomatic and who want to reach home, the central government decided to ply the Shramik trains upon the request of the state governments. All was well until the Congress decided to play politics in times of a pandemic.

The two sides

Erstwhile Congress President Rahul Gandhi triggered a controversy by tweeting that the Indian Railways levied fare on migrant workers wanting to travel but gave Rs. 151 crores to PM CARES fund. Following this, incumbent Congress President Sonia Gandhi made an announcement that that every Pradesh Congress Committee would bear the cost of the rail fare of those travelling. The Congress handle on Twitter started working like a meme page, making ridiculous comparisons about loan write-offs to “BJP’s friends” and money being spent on Namastey Trump.

The BJP on the other hand, put a defensive saying that no fare was being collected from migrant workers and that the fare is being borne by the Indian Railways and state governments. BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra responding to Rahul Gandhi’s tweet said that the MHA guideline clearly state that no tickets would be sold at any station and that the Railways has subsidized 85% of the fare with the remaining being borne by the respective state government. BJP MP Subramanian Swamy too tweeted that he spoke to Minister Piyush Goyal and that the migrant workers would travel free.

The True Picture

The MHA decided to run the special Shramik trains from May 1 (labour day) to move the migrant workers, students, and tourists stranded in different parts of the country. These trains would be plied at the request of the state governments. Only those who are found asymptomatic would be screened and allowed to travel with strict social distancing norms. On arrival, they would be screened at the destination again for symptoms. The ‘sending state’ government should arrange for the commute of passengers and provide them with food and water for the journey.

The fare for these trains includes the charge of sleeper class ticket, superfast charge of ₹30 and an additional ₹20. The Indian Railways on Monday clarified that the ‘sending states’ should pay for transporting the migrants and is up to them to decide for how to fund this cost. The government of the ‘sending state’ has the following options – the state government could bear the expenses or levy it on the passengers or ask the receiving state to share the expenses or charge it to a fund.

The baseless and needless move by Congress

What the Congress party should have done is to either ask for the burden sharing of cost with the receiving state or if it was a matter of ego, the respective state government could have borne the cost. Instead, it chose to do its ugly politics at the cost of innocent migrant workers. The Congress party asking for its Pradesh Congress Committee to pay for the travel of migrant workers could lead to chaos. It could trigger a wave of migrants to queue at railway stations. It looks like the intention of the Congress party is to increase the spread of the virus and blame the centre for mismanagement of the pandemic.

The Commune’s Take

Both the parties should put aside partisan politics and stand for what is rational and what is in the best interests of the nation. The non-NDA and NDA ruled states should arrive at a mechanism to share the cost of travelling.

The lockdown has helped in containing the spread of the deadly virus in a highly and densely populated country like ours. Thanks to its strict enforcement and the responsible behaviour of a majority of Indians, it has saved the country from overwhelming of its health infrastructure unlike the case of western countries which had failed to implement the lockdown in a serious manner. However, it is not time to be complacent. There seems to be no respite in states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana where cases are being reported in double and triple digits every day.

It would be in the country’s best interest if the railway fare is levied on the passenger as it would cut down unnecessary movement of people. The last thing that this country needs is for the virus to spread in its villages.