A Vellore ‘model’ for Chennai migrant crisis – The New Indian Express

Chennai News

Express News Service

VELLORE: When the textile hub of Tirupur and capital city Chennai have been struggling to cope with the migrant crisis, the Vellore district administration has quietly worked out a plan to transport the those stranded here for months.

As per the administration’s data, around 12,000 patients  —stranded at the Christian Medical College — and migrant labourers have been sent back to their native States. The trick, officials say, is that the district administration held direct talks with the stakeholders. They negotiated directly for special trains. The first Sharamik Special left Katpadi junction on May 6 with 1,140 passengers to Jharkhand.

Database collection, assessment, advance movement before boarding the special train and passing of information on the date and time of boarding to the stranded people were part of the plan.“Since there was no data available about the migrants, we thought it is necessary to collect database. Online registration of their particulars were done with the help of translators,” Collector Shanmuga Sundaram explained.

The authorities had a tough time collecting the details because the stranded persons hailed from states including West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, and from neighbouring country — Bangladesh.
“We informed 1,436 persons, in a batch, about the date and time of the special train on the day of boarding. They were asked to assemble at three marriage halls where tokens were issued. We led them to the railway station in special buses. This helped avoid congestion,” he added.

In the initial days, several stranded persons thronged the collectorate seeking action. But soon, the positive action invoked confidence. The rest, as they say, is history.

Source: https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2020/may/26/a-vellore-model-for-chennai-migrant-crisis-2148003.html