Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan slams Centre for sending trains without prior notice
by BusinessToday.InAccording to CM Vijayan, the decision to send a train without keeping his government in the loop would undermine the measures taken to contain the spread coronavirus in the state
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has lashed out at Indian Railways for sending a special train to Kerala from Mumbai without prior notice to the state government. "Indian Railways decided to send a train from Mumbai to Kerala. No information about it was passed to Kerala government. It was taken up by the Railway Ministry," Kerala CM said on Tuesday.
Later, the government cancelled the "unannounced train" to Kerala from Maharashtra and scheduled its journey to another date in order to obtain passenger details.
According to CM Vijayan, the decision to send a train without keeping his government in the loop would undermine the measures taken to contain the spread coronavirus in the state.
The chief minister said he had sent a letter to the Railway Minister requesting that the state government must be informed in advance about the special trains along with details of passengers so that the government can arrange quarantine facilities.
Vijayan said despite the request, one more train was arranged from Maharashtra without informing Kerala about the passenger details. Vijayan added, "One train came to the state from Mumbai, a red zone, unannounced but we managed to accommodate the people."
According to CM Vijayan, those who come to Kerala must register with the web portal (COVID-19 Jagratha) so that quarantine facilities can be arranged for them.
Kerala CM Vijayan said that the matter has been notified to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prevent the entry of another impromptu train to the state.
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