Lucknow, Jun 20 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh government has so far sent over 87,000 labourers including brick kiln workers to their native states in 56 trains, a senior official said on Saturday.

"State government has so far sent 87,272 brick kiln workers and labourers to their native states by trains," Additional chief secretary (home) Awanish Awasthi said.

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As many as 17 trains have taken 30,403 workers to Chhattisgarh, 26 trains have taken 44,560 workers to Bihar, four trains have taken 6,756 labourers to Odisha and three trains have taken 5,553 workers to Jharkhand, he said.

On Saturday, six trains departed from Uttar Pradesh -- four to Bihar and one each to Chhattisgarh and Odisha, he said.

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The special trains are being operated primarily on the request of states, which want to send migrant workers stranded due to the COVID-19 lockdown to their native places.

The coronavirus-triggered lockdown has had a devastating impact on the economy as well as on the livelihoods of lakhs of migrant workers.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)