Meghalaya govt concerned over harassment faced by state returnees on way home

SHILLONG: Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong has expressed concern over the harassment faced by the returnees who were on their way to the state.

“Our students suffered a lot. I am sorry to say that”, he told reporters on Monday. He informed that the state acted immediately and the Chief Minister Conrad Sangma also spoke to the Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.

Tynsong said that the persons who attempted to enter the train were local stranded labourers.

It may be mentioned that locals in Bihar pelted stones at a special train carrying returnees to the North Eastern states. The locals from Bihar also wanted to travel in the train resulting in congestion.

Stranded residents

Tynsong said that a dedicated team has been created and a notification has been published. He said that the returnees can contact assistant commissioner of Transport, Khongsit – 7005629354, DGM (MTC) Tura – 8974254116, one pool officer (Nongbri) – 9436103308.

“The stranded persons or their relatives can easily contact, in case they could not register themselves in advance before coming back to the state”, Tynsong said.

The number of stranded students who came back to the state till Monday crossed 9500.

Tynsong informed that on Tuesday evening special trains from Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh would start carrying stranded residents of Meghalaya.

“In Rajasthan, we have 225 students and friends working there. In Andhra Pradesh, we have 215”, he said.

For, stranded state residents in Delhi and Kerala, special trains will start on Wednesday. There are 500 students in Delhi and Kerala has 510 stranded state residents.