The Delhi government on Friday said it will bear the cost of train travel of the migrant workers if their home states do not respond on the matter of bearing their travel cost.

According to the existing guidelines, the central government and the home state of the migrant workers should bear the cost of their travel.

The government, in a statement, said it has already reached out to the respective states with the list of migrant workers stranded in the national capital.

Most of these states are yet to respond on the matter of bearing the travel costs of stranded people, therefore, the Delhi government has taken the decision to bear the cost to avoid any further inconvenience to stranded workers, said the statement.

A special train carrying nearly 1,200 migrant labourers departed from New Delhi Railway station to Muzaffarpur, Bihar on Friday.

The government ensured safe travel, social distancing, food and water for all the passengers, it added.

"The train carrying 1,200 migrant labourers left for Muzaffarpur, Bihar today. The Arvind Kejriwal government will bear their full travel cost," tweeted Cabinet minister Gopal Rai.

The government said it has made lists of these stranded people and already shared with their home states.

Several buses were arranged to bring these workers from shelters across Delhi, it said.

Teams of doctors were appointed to screen them and after thorough checkup, medical certificate was issued to each one of them.

The government also ensured today's lunch along with food and water for the train journey. All the people were given food packets to eat during the travel by train along with dry fruits, biscuits, banana and water bottles, the statement further added.

To ensure the social distancing, the government permitted only 12 people on a bus while taking the migrant workers to the railway station. Thermal screening of the passengers was also done before boarding the bus, according to the statement.

The government also appointed civil defence volunteers at each of these buses. The volunteers distributed masks to every passenger and instructed them to ensure social distancing.

The volunteers also asked them to wash their hands from time to time. Medical certificate and tickets were given to the passengers after they reached the railway station, it claimed.

First Published:May 8, 2020 11:22 PM IST