Mohd. Imran Khan 12 May 2020 Late- Starter Bihar Govt Plans to Bring Back Only 2.22 Lakh Out of 28 Lakh Stranded Workers Image Courtesy: The Hindu Patna: Nearly 2.5 million migrant workers from Bihar, who have been stranded across the country after the sudden lockdown on March 24 midnight, have been struggling to survive without ration and source of livelihood and are eager to return to their home state. But, the Bihar government has so far targeted to bring back only 2.22 lakh migrants by 169 special trains. Ten days after the first batch of stranded migrant workers arrived in Bihar by special train, the state government officials claimed that till May 11 about 1.43 lakh workers had arrived by 116 special trains. About 25,000 migrant workers are expected to reach Bihar on Tuesday by 21 trains. State Information & Public Relation Department secretary Anupam Kumar said: “We have managed 169 special trains to bring back migrant workers. We expect 2.22 lakh migrant workers to reach the state by special trains”. This statement is bound to raise many eyebrows, as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's directive to top officials on Monday was to make arrangements to bring back all migrant workers who are eager to return home, within a week. However, in the same breath, Nitish Kumar also exposed his government inability to bring back more migrant workers on its own and requested Prime Minister Natendra Modi to increase the number of special trains. ”Nitish Kumar has made this statement only for public consumption to send the message that his government is trying to bring back all stranded migrant workers. The reality is something else,” a senior state government official told Newsclick requesting anonymity. The official said: “The government is not just slow, reluctant and hesitant to bring back migrant workers since the lockdown began, it is also against any move to bring them back,” adding that it was because Opposition hue and cry that built a pressure on the National Democratic Alliance government led by Nitish Kumar, which has forced it to bring back migrant workers. “It has carefully chosen to delay it and bring back only a few of total numbers”, the official alleged.