Railways appeals persons with co-morbidities, senior citizens, children below 10 to avoid travel on 'Shramik' specials

This comes after reports of deaths in special trains being run to transport stranded migrant workers from different parts of the country.

The Indian Railways on Friday appealed people to avoid travel on 'Shramik' special trains if they have co-morbidities like hypertension, diabetes and cancer.

This comes after reports of deaths in special trains being run to transport stranded migrant workers from different parts of the country.

"It has been observed that some people who are availing this service have pre-existing medical conditions which aggravate the risk they face during the COVID-19 pandemic. A few unfortunate cases of deaths related to pre-existing medical conditions while travelling have happened," Railways said in an appeal.

Besides asking people with co-morbidities to avoid travel, the Railways has also asked pregnant women, children below the age of 10 years and persons above 65 years of age to avoid travel by rail.

"​In order to protect the vulnerable persons from COVID-19, in line with Ministry of Home Affairs, Order No 40-3/2020-DM-I(A) dated 17.05.2020, Ministry of Railways makes an appeal that persons with co-morbidities (for example - hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, immune deficiency conditions), pregnant women, children below the age of 10 years and persons above 65 years of age may avoid travel by rail, except when it is essential," the appeal shared by Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal said.

The Indian Railways on Thursday said it has 3736 “Shramik' special trains have been operationalised from various states across the country and around 50 lakh migrants have been transported in 27 days.