Telangana CM opposes resumption of train services now

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to resume the passenger train services at this juncture, saying allowing them would lead to movement of pepole and pose problems in testing them for COVID-19 and quarantining. Rao, who spoke during the video conference held by Modi with state chief ministers, observed that the impact of COVID-19 has been more in major cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad, an official release said here. "Chief Minister Sri K Chandrashekhar Rao has urged Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi not to revive the passenger train services, which were stopped as part of preventive measures to contain spread of coronavirus in the country," it said. As many as 15 trains are to be operated by the Railways from Tuesday on the Rajdhani route from Delhi to all the major cities, including Secunderabad here, in the country. Rao told Modi that resumption of passenger train services at this juncture would lead to movement of people from one destination to another.

Nobody knows who is going from where to where.It is not possible to conduct tests on everyone. It is also difficult to put all those who travelled by trains under quarantine. Hence, passengers trains should not be allowed to ply, he said.

Rao strongly favoured allowing migrant workers to return to their native places, besides rescheduling the loans of states and raising Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM).