AIZAWL, June 1 - Mizoram residents who were stranded in Mumbai and Pune and who are now travelling home in a special train have complained of overcrowding in the coaches.
Daniel Lalngilneia of the Pune Mizo Welfare Association has alleged that contrary to Railway officials� earlier conviction that they would arrange 22 rail coaches for 1,500 stranded Mizoram residents from Mumbai and Pune, the stranded people had to share these 22 coaches with stranded people from other Northeastern states.
�Even these 22 coaches are not adequate for 1,500 people at a time when we need social distancing, and adding 200 more people is too much. We have complained to the Railway officials for letting stranded people from other states in the same train which they had said was solely meant for us,� he said.
�When we were about to board the train, three coaches were already occupied by passengers from other states. Forget about social distancing, we literally rubbed shoulders with our co-passengers as 10 people were seated in the bench seat meant for eight persons. Some passengers had to sit on their luggage,� said Lalngilneia.
Meanwhile, a special train from Goa transporting 790 stranded Mizoram citizens reached Bairabi station at 10.50 am on Monday.
Mizoram CM gives up 60 per cent of pay: Chief Minister Zoramthanga on Monday gave up 60 per cent of his basic pay towards the fight against COVID-19, official sources said. Zoramthanga will continue to do so for the next six months. The donated 60 per cent of the Chief Minister�s basic pay is around Rs 48,000.
As per a decision taken at a meeting convened by Speaker Lalrinliana Sailo, all MLAs, except for five Congress legislators, will donate 30 per cent of their basic pay to the CM�s Relief Fund. The Congress MLAs, who skipped the meeting, had donated their entire salary for the month of May to the fund.
