Experiences by rail, air passengers expose Centre-state coordination

The differing experiences between rail and air passengers after the limited resumption of services have underlined the criticality of Centre-state coordination

Domestic air travel in India resumed after 63 days but not without its controversies and uncertainty over what happens when the passengers touch down. State governments, especially those with a high number of Covid-19 cases, want their borders closed even if passengers come into their territory by air and travel in more sanitised conditions than those who board Shramik special trains and the new “time-tabled” trains that started last week.

The first train taking stranded labourers, students and pilgrims ran on May 1. The Ministry of Railways till then had maintained secrecy regarding the restarting of trains — so much