Builders fear labour crunch; Karnataka withdraws special trains

The Karnataka government has withdrawn its request to the railways to run special trains to ferry migrant labourers to their home states hours after builders met Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to apprise him of the problems to the construction sector in case they leftThe principal secretary in the Revenue Department N Manjunatha Prasad who is the nodal officer for migrants had requested the South Western Railways on Tuesday to run two train services a day for five days except Wednesday when the state government wanted services thrice a day to Danapur in BiharKarnataka CM B S Yediyurappa addresses the media about the ongoing COVID19 situation in Bengaluru on Wednesday PicPTIHowever later Prasad wrote another letter within a few hours that the special trains were not required Several migrants in the city were desperate to return home as they were out of job and money ldquoSince the train services are not required from tomorrow the letter cited under reference above is withdrawnrdquo Prasad wrote to theSW Railway general manager on TuesdayThe Railway officials said they have received the letter seeking withdrawal of the previous one for running special trains However Prasad was not available for comments The builders had apprised the CM about the shortage of labourers if they were allowed to go back home said a source privy to the issueRs 1610cr package for the distressedThe Karnataka government announced a 1610crore relief package for the benefit of those in distress due to the COVID19induced lockdown The measures announced by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa would bring relief to farmers flowergrowers washermen autorickshaw and taxi drivers MSMEs large industries weavers building workers and barbers While the government will reach out to about 775 lakh auto and taxi drivers by providing a onetime compensation of 5000 each a similar assistance will also be extended to barbers and washermen dhobis who are also facing the heat of joblessness due to the lockdownWB asked to open crossborder transportationWith the Bengal government not adhering to the Centres guideline on goods transportation through the IndiaBangladesh border the MHA has issued strict direction to the state to implement it ldquowithout any delayrdquo The state was also asked to submit a compliance report immediately ldquoYou are directed to allow cross land border transportation through all IndoBangladesh borders without any delay and send the compliance reportrdquo Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla saidDelhis Twitter handle for COVID queriesThe Delhi government launched a Twitter handle for addressing COVID19 related queries and complaints The handle DelhiVsCorona will ensure authentic information about the disease and serve as a onestop solution for all the COVID19 related queries and complaints the government said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has formed a team to monitor this Twitter handle The team will gather live status of the situation and provide authentic information it saidCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever