Pinarayi Vijayan | Photo: Mathrubhumi
Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the state government is not bearing the ticket expense of migrant labourers who are returning to their native states. Pinarayi Vijayan said that the central government was expected to bear the expenses but the workers are travelling at their own expense.
The Kerala Chief Minister’s explanation comes at a time when both the BJP and Congress is going back and forth with arguments regarding the train tickets of migrant labourers. Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi had criticized the central government for the extracting the cost of tickets from the labourers. Sonia Gandhi later announced that the Congress party will handle the ticket charges of migrant workers struggling to go back to their native states.
After the instruction of AICC, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee offered Rs one crore for the travel expenses of migrants. However, the BJP government in Karnataka soon announced free travel for all migrants.
Pinarayi Vijayan also mocked the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee’s offer to take care of the ticket charges of Keralites who are returning home. He said that it is better that they do not take up such things as the public knows how it would end up.