As a controversy raged over Indian Railways collecting fares from migrants returning home amid the lockdown, the Centre has clarified that 85 per cent of the fare will be borne by the Railways and 15 per cent by the State.

Earlier, with regard to sale of tickets, the Railways had said: “The local authority shall hand over the tickets to passengers cleared by it, collect the ticket fare and hand over the amount to the Railways.”

These guidelines stirred a hornet’s nest, which led the Centre to issue a clarification on Monday, after it came to light that migrants were being charged by certain State governments for train travel.

Close to 6,000 migrant workers travelling from Kerala to Bihar and Odisha alone had ended up shelling out over ₹32 lakh between May 1 and 3, according to railway officials. As media reports created a furore, Congress President Sonia Gandhi wrote to all the party’s State offices directing them to bear the workers’ ticket fares.

Following Gandhi's letter, Rajya Sabha Member and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy tweeted to the effect that it was unfair for the government of India to charge steep rail fares from half--starved migrant workers when Indians stranded abroad were being brought back for free by Air India.

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in India reached 42,836 on Monday, with 11,762 (27.45 per cent) recoveries and 1,389 (3.24 per cent) deaths. Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health, said that earlier the outcome ratio — the number of cases recovered to the number of deaths — was 80:20, and this has now improved to close to 90:10.

Punya Salila Shrivastava, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, has clarified that interstate travel via road remains banned amid the lockdown, even as some restrictions are being lifted in orange and green zones, which are districts classified with fewer cases.

“...in the red zones, taxis and metros will not work and in containment zones within red zones, cycle rickshaws, cab aggregators, buses will not be available. Spas and salons will remain shut and non-essential services will not be allowed in market complexes. Construction will begin wherever labourers live on site, while offices continue to work on very skeletal staff,” Shrivastava said.

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