MUMBAI: Even as the first batch of 100 Sikh pilgrims stranded at Nanded’s Takht Sri Hazur Sahib during the lockdown left for their home states of Punjab, Haryana and New Delhi after a push from Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and a nod from Union home minister Amit Shah, the state’s chief secretary Ajoy Mehta on Saturday asked his counterparts in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh to take back 3.5 lakh migrants from these states stuck in Maharashtra. Mehta said Maharashtra was willing to ferry the migrants to the borders of their states and hand them over.The Himachal and Haryana governments too sent Kashmiri workers and those from UP back to their home states on buses on Saturday. A total of 3,800 pilgrims from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi who came to Nanded on March 23, a day before the nationwide lockdown was put in place, have been stuck in Nanded.While the first batch left on Friday in buses, the Punjab government on Saturday despatched 80 buses which are expected to reach Nanded on Sunday and shift the other pilgrims back. The buses will cover a distance of 3,300km. Each bus has three drivers, one conductor and one policeman.According to reports, Mehta told his counterparts in the other states that if they agreed, the Maharashtra government would drop off migrants from their states at the borders of those states. Similarly, workers from Maharashtra stranded in other states could be dropped off at the state’s border.A senior bureaucrat told TOI, “Ajoy Mehta raised this issue during a video conference with the Union cabinet secretary. Mehta suggested states take responsibility for repatriation of migrants.”According to reports, CM Uddhav Thackeray had taken up the matter with the NDA government as well as with the visiting Central team, but there had been no response. Over 1,500 migrants had gathered on April 15 at Bandra railway station after rumours circulated that long-distance trains had restarted.Takht Sri Hazur Sahib is one of Sikhism’s holiest spots. After the extension of the nationwide lockdown, the pilgrims stranded there got in touch with Punjab CM Singh, who spoke to Thackeray.Thackeray told Singh he had no objection to the pilgrims’ return but it would require permission of the Central government in view of the nationwide lockdown. The Punjab CM then took up the matter with Amit Shah, who granted permission for transportation of the pilgrims as a special case. After chief secretary-level talks between Punjab and Maharashtra, permission was granted and the Nanded collector was directed to grant a travel pass to the Sikhs.“We have asked the pilgrims to follow social distancing norms in the buses. Accordingly, against the capacity of 52 passengers, only 35 will be allowed in each bus. We think that in order to send back 3,800 pilgrims, they may require more than 100 buses,” the bureaucrat said.Before the pilgrims boarded the bus on Friday, their medical examination was conducted and they were allowed to go only after they had tested negative for the novel coronavirus. “After reaching their destination, we expect they would stay in quarantine for 14 days,” the official said.