Ahead of Bihar poll, Rlys rolls out Chhath red carpet for migrants in Punjab

Punjab’s Bihari migrant population is returning home for the three-day Chhath Puja festival, which begins tomorrow. Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu is personally on the spot to orchestrate the departure of 122 special trains from key stations such as Ferozepur, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Dhandari Kalan — all bound for Patna, Muzaffarpur, Chhapra and Hajipur.

As per details, around five lakh migrants have travelled by train. From October 21 to 23, a total of 3,28,138 passengers travelled from Ferozepur Division to their destinations. Besides, nearly two lakh migrants have travelled from Jammu and Ambala divisions.

With the Chatth Puja expected to be a stepping stone for the all-important Bihar elections on November 6 and 11, the Railways is putting its best foot forward. As many as 1,205 special trains have been pressed into service nationwide this past week.

Punjab is special because its economy significantly depends on migrant labour from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, who do everything from tilling the land to domestic labour as well as other jobs. According to Rupesh Kumar, chairman of the Punjab and Chandigarh chapter of the Bihar Foundation, there are around 20 lakh migrants, including 10 lakh Biharis, working in Punjab.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the BJP’s campaign in Samastipur today and Bittu’s ministry is paying extra attention. War rooms have been set up in the Railway Board as well as in principal offices and divisional offices across the country. Railway stations are being monitored 24X7.

Everyone has their eyes peeled to anticipate any problems, especially overcrowding. The February Delhi railway station disaster when 18 persons lost their lives because of severe overcrowding of railway platforms with people going for the Kumbh Mela is topmost on the mind of every railway official.

Over the past two days, the Minister of State was seen taking a feedback from passengers and also posted social media reels with them. He was scheduled to visit Patiala today for a rozgar mela and later the Rajpura railway station but his plan was cancelled.

Bittu downplayed the political angle, saying, “Elections come every five years, while the Chhath Puja is an annual ritual.” He said his visits to railway stations were aimed at taking a feedback from passengers and ensuring adequate arrangements.

The ministry’s heightened focus on crowd management follows the February stampede at the New Delhi railway station, in which 18 persons were killed, including five children, and several injured.

To prevent similar incidents, the Railways has initiated the construction of Yatri Suvidha Kendras — permanent holding areas — at 76 high-footfall stations across the country. These facilities, equipped with automatic ticket-vending machines, over 150 toilets and drinking water dispensers, aim to improve passenger comfort and safety during peak festive travel.

As the BJP is rolling out the red carpet welcome for the Bihari migrants travelling to their home towns, politics has heated up over the provision of special trains and other arrangements being made in Punjab for them ahead of the Chhath Puja. However, Congress leaders claim that the arrangements are inadequate.

It all happened after a video of huge chaos at the Jalandhar City railway station on Thursday went viral wherein passengers were seen banging the shut doors of a halted train. Since the Bihar-bound train was already full and there was no space, the passengers had bolted it from inside. Those waiting to board it from Jalandhar got panicky and were seen trying to partly damage it. After this video, Bittu went to the Ludhiana railway station, which has the maximum number of Bihari migrants. He got a video shot from there and posted it on social media showing that the passengers were comfortably waiting for the arrival of a Bihar-bound train.

On Friday, AICC secretary and Jalandhar Cantonment MLA Pargat Singh went to the Jalandhar City railway station. He said, “There is a huge rush of migrants waiting to go to Bihar but the number of trains is far too low. All Bihar-bound trains reaching the Jalandhar station are already full from the Amritsar or Beas stations. Bittu is busy making “reels and videos” rather than addressing the real issues being faced by the travellers. Bittu is not a “rail minister but a reel minister”, he said.