A day after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced that suburban train travel would be allowed for the fully vaccinated from August 15, a row has erupted between the state government and the Railway Ministry. Minister of state for railways and MP from Maharashtra, Raosaheb Danve, claimed his department was not taken into confidence before the CM took the decision. The state government has, however, refuted the minister’s claim, saying officials from both sides had met to discuss the plan of giving QR codes and passes to commuters.

The matter escalated further on Monday and evoked strong reactions from the ruling parties, after Danve insisted that the railways will not take up the responsibility of verifying the vaccination status of commuters through QR codes before entering stations and manage everything beyond the entry points.