Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has been lashing out at the Centre relentlessly, on Saturday attacked the “anti-poor” government for what he said was earning a profit during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The former Congress president’s tweet came after the railways ministry said the Indian Railways generated Rs 429.90 crore revenue through fares collected for Shramik Special trains till July 9.
“There are ‘clouds’ of the disease, people are in trouble, one can make benefits – the anti-poor government is earning by turning a disaster into profit,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.
He also attached a report about the railways’ revenue along with his tweet.
The railways started operating the trains from May 1 to ferry migrant workers stranded in cities back to their villages after the national lockdown.
A senior ministry official said on condition of anonymity, that the national carrier, however, spent around Rs 2400 crore in operating Shramik Trains, adding that the revenue generated “should be taken as receipt only in lieu of expenses incurred by the railways in running of Shramik trains”.
The ministry had said in June said the average cost of fares for migrants aboard Shramik Special trains was Rs 600 and added that it spent around Rs 3,400 per person to operate the train.
Railways operated 4,496 special trains between May 1 and July 9, ferrying 6.3 million people.
Gandhi has been leading his party’s attack on the Centre over a number of issues, including the handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the border standoff with China, for some time now.
