Bengaluru, May 9 (IANS): The Karnataka government has permitted stranded migrant workers, students, pilgrims, tourists and other persons to hire state-run buses for returning to their homes in other states, an official said on Saturday.

"As inter-state travel has been permitted under the revised guidelines after easing of the extended lockdown norms on May 2, the stranded people, including migrant workers, can hire buses of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) for commuting to their home states," Principal Revenue Secretary T.K. Anil Kumar said in a statement here.

Thousands of migrant workers and others have been stranded in cities and towns across the southern state, especially Bengaluru, ever since the lockdown was enforced from March 24 midnight and was extended twice till May 17 to contain the coronavirus spread, leading to suspension of all transport services.

After ferrying over one lakh local migrant workers to their homes within the state from May 2-7 in KSRTC buses for free, the state government on Friday resumed special trains to send at least one lakh migrant labourers to their native places in other states across the country.

"Outstation migrants, stranded in the western and northern regions of the state, can hire buses of the KSRTC's north-west and northeast subsidiaries on payment basis to travel to their home states, following safety norms such as wearing masks and physical distancing during the travel," said Kumar.

Since May 4, the state government has also permitted intra-state and inter-state movement of people in private vehicles with an e-pass issued by the local police only from non-Covid containment zones across the southern state.