Cong to bear cost of rail travel of every needy migrant worker: Sonia Gandhi
New Delhi: The Congress on Monday said its state units will bear the cost of rail travel of needy home-bound migrants stranded at various places across the country due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, in a statement, announced the party's decision and said this would be the Congress' humble contribution in standing shoulder to shoulder with these workers who are nation-builders and are the backbone of the country's economy.
She also released an emotional video message to the migrant workers and labourers extending them all help while criticising the Centre for not coming to their aid.
In the video, she described a farmer as one who feeds the nation while workers are nation-builders. She hoped they will all reach their loved ones as soon as possible, and quoted Mahatma Gandhi's saying "the best way to find oneself is to devote oneself to the service of others".
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also tweeted in Hindi, "On one hand, the railways is charging ticket fares from labourers stranded in other states, while on the other hand, the Railway Ministry is donating Rs 151 crore to the PM-Cares Fund. Just resolve this puzzle."
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the workers are nation-builders and today they (workers) are suffering and this should be a reason for pain for the whole country".
She questioned when the government can bring back stranded Indians free of cost by air, or Namaste Trump' can spend Rs 100 crore from the state treasury, why can't train fares of migrants be paid.
Terming the party decision as historic , AICC general secretary K C Venugopal and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Congress state units will pay the cost of train travel of migrants to state chief secretaries.
The two leaders also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to shed his "false prestige" and come forward in paying for the travel of migrants returning home.
They said the party had taken the decision after many such workers and labourers did not have money to pay for their tickets.
Meanwhile, the BJP accused the Congress of doing politics on the issue and claimed the central and state governments were bearing the cost of such train travels and no fare was charged from the migrants.
Venugopal, however, read out a circular stating state governments will pay the railways after collecting fares from migrant workers.
Sonia Gandhi also accused the Centre and the railways of completely ignoring their demand for free travel of migrants.
"There needs to be provisions for the safe and free rail travel of migrant workers and labourers to their home towns. However, despite our repeated demands, the central government and the railway ministry have chosen to completely ignore the same.
"The Indian National Congress (INC) has, therefore, taken a decision that every Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) shall bear the cost for the rail travel of every needy worker and migrant labourer and take necessary steps in this regard," she said in a statement.
Congress treasurer Ahmed Patel also tweeted, "I request Pradesh Congress Committees to mobilise all possible local resources to help migrants purchase tickets to get back home. Let us make this into a people's movement, please contact AICC if you require assistance."
Congress leader P Chidambaram said, "Congress president's decision to direct PCCs to bear the cost of rail transport for migrant workers is a historic decision. Puts the government of India to shame".
Sonia Gandhi further said, "But what is the responsibility of our government? Even today, lakhs of workers and migrant labourers are languishing in different parts of the country and wish to return to their homes and families, but there is neither adequate money nor provision for free transport.
"What is particularly disturbing is that the central government and the Railway Ministry are charging them for train tickets in this hour of crisis," she said.
The Congress chief added that this is for the first time post-partition that India witnessed a tragedy as thousands of migrants were forced to walk home.
Venugopal said directions have been given to state PCCs to coordinate with state chief secretaries and the railways to arrange for train fare of migrants.
"We are not going to have registration of migrant labourers as it will add to the confusion. We do not want to play politics in this. Those who are having no money are unable to travel in these trains, that is why, our Karnataka PCC has paid for them. Same thing was done in Kerala, he said.
Surjewala urged the government to wake up from its slumber and come to the aid of migrants.
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Massive turnout in assembly polls across states, women voters outnumber men: EC data
New Delhi (PTI): The recently-concluded assembly elections witnessed exceptionally high voter participation across states, with women voters outnumbering men in turnout percentages, according to Election Commission data.
West Bengal recorded the highest voter turnout among states, with 93.71 per cent polling in 293 constituencies where counting has been completed. The state saw over 6.38 crore votes cast, including postal ballots, against a total of more than 6.81 crore electors.
Women voters recorded a turnout of 93.8 per cent in the West Bengal Assembly polls, slightly higher than the 92.06 per cent participation among men.
The data for West Bengal does not include the figures for the Falta assembly constituency, which is scheduled for repolling.
Tamil Nadu registered an 85.01 per cent turnout, with nearly 4.8 crore votes polled from an electorate of 5.74 crore. Women voters recorded a turnout of 86.2 per cent, higher than the 83.77 per cent among men.
Assam also witnessed robust participation, with the final turnout touching 85.74 per cent. More than 2.15 crore votes were cast in the state, while female turnout at 86.53 per cent marginally exceeded the 84.95 per cent recorded among male voters.
Kerala registered a turnout of 78.11 per cent, with over 2.12 crore votes polled. Female voter participation stood at 81.17 per cent against 74.9 per cent among men.
Puducherry recorded a turnout of 89.82 per cent, with women voters again leading participation at 91.39 per cent. More than 8.5 lakh votes were polled in the Union territory.
Yet, women's representation among elected candidates remained modest.
Tamil Nadu elected 23 women MLAs (9.83 per cent) out of 234 members, West Bengal elected 37 women legislators (12.62 per cent) out of 293, while Kerala returned only 11 women MLAs (7.85 per cent) in the 140-member House.
Only two third-gender candidates contested the elections - one each from Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and both lost, forfeiting their deposits.
The elections also reflected extensive electoral mobilisation infrastructure. West Bengal had the highest number of polling stations at 85,092, followed by Tamil Nadu with 75,064 and Assam with 31,490.
In terms of candidates, Tamil Nadu saw the largest contest with 4,023 candidates in the fray across 234 constituencies, averaging 17 candidates per seat and peaking at 79 contestants in one constituency.
West Bengal pitted 2,920 candidates for 293 constituencies, while Kerala had the fewest contestants among the major states, with 883 candidates for 140 seats.
The data also showed relatively low NOTA votes across states. Tamil Nadu recorded the lowest NOTA share at 0.4 per cent of total votes polled, while Assam recorded the highest at 1.23 per cent. In West Bengal, 0.78 per cent of the total votes polled were NOTA, while it 0.77 per cent and 0.57 per cent of the electorate opted for None of the Above (NOTA) in Puducherry and Kerala, respectively.
