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No money, no hope: Waiting for the train to Ranchi

Nagpur: Sitting in front of a closed eatery just across the railway station, Ranganath Mishra breaks down while talking on cell phone. Mishra, who can barely walk, was discharged from Government Medical College (GMC) a day ago after three months of treatment.

Showing a crumpled medical report, Mishra says he had met with an accident on March 7.

It took more than three months in the hospital. Soon the lockdown happened and the restaurant where he worked closed.

After reaching the railway station penniless, there is nowhere to go, he says. He hopes to board a train for Ranchi in Jharkhand where he comes from and visited every year while working in Nagpur.

Estranged from his family members, Ranganath was in two minds to whether call them or not. The hardships due to lockdown increased his emotional trauma. The call he got was from a co-worker in the restaurant who phoned to ask if Ranganath had reached home.

As passengers slowly get inside the station to board the Shramik Special or other special trains passing through Nagpur, there are many who are clueless and waiting outside hoping to get a seat.

At present, only those who have registered to board the Shramik Specials or those with a reserved ticket for other trains can board. Bookings for another 14 trains passing through Nagpur will open from Monday.

However, workers and other stranded persons continue to reach the station hoping to get a berth in Shramik Specials. TOI came across two groups of workers from Bihar who had walked from Kinwat and Hinganghat.

“This year our agent in the village got us a job in a cotton ginning mill at Hinganghat. The employer was kind enough to feed us but the work did not suit us and now we want to go back,” says Prashant Sada in a group of six heading for Darbhanga in Bihar.

Another group of road construction workers had walked down from Kinwat and waited outside hoping to get some directions.

A spokesperson from Central Railway explained, apart from the Shramik trains there were eight trains passing from Nagpur in which one could book a ticket online or at the counters. Only passengers with a reservation are allowed. Another 14 will start from Monday. The trains passing through Nagpur will connect destinations like Patna, Kolkata, Secunderabad and Delhi, he said. However, there will be no booking for destinations within the state.

Registrations for shramik trains are done through local administration or police.

The workers waiting outside said they had around Rs1,000 each and may buy the ticket. Back at the shop, Ranganath sat helplessly. I have no money for the tickets he said. Pravin Madankar in his twenties said he’s been living outside the station for two months. He had to go to a village near Katol town but no bus or train was there.

A railway source said such persons are advised to go to the government shelter home by the police so that they can go in a Shramik Special or bus. Yet people keep coming.

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