Over 58 lakh migrants have been taken to their destinations by 4,286 Shramik special trains till now, said Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav on Saturday.
Speaking to , Yadav said, "We started the Shramik Special trains from 1 May. Till now 4,286 trains have been run and more than 58 lakh people have travelled so far," he said.
He said the main objective behind running special trains was to help labourers, who are our brothers and sisters, reach their destinations. Indian Railway and the State governments cooperated with each other in running these trains.
"I have been seeing in the past 3-4 days that the demand for trains, which was 250 per day, is declining slowly. It first came down to 170 trains, then to 137 and in the last two days, 32 and 24 trains were run," he said.
"I have written to Chief Secretaries of the States on June 3, asking them to tell us their requirements. The requirement we got was for 171 trains. In the past two days, we have run 76 trains out of the 171 trains," Yadav said.
"Maximum requirement is from Kerala -- 66 trains, then Tamil Nadu, 26 trains. The other States require either two or five trains. The Indian Railways can run 100 trains in one day which is the requirement of the States. The States have some demand and they have given us some schedule," he said.
Speaking about making food arrangement for the travellers, Yadav said: "In coordination with the State governments, we made a protocol. Accordingly, groups of 1,400 to 1,500 migrants who were going in one direction were formed. Food was arranged for them free of cost."
When asked about the number of babies born on special trains, Yadav said: "As many as 36 babies were born. Our doctors, nurses and workers handled medical emergencies properly," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )