E-Paper
Covid-19: Odisha preps for deluge of home bound workers as lockdown nears end
The Odisha government is worried because the workers would be returning from states that have much higher cases of Covid-19.
The Odisha government which is preparing itself for the return of 7.5 lakh migrants of the State after the lockdown ends said the challenge would be a huge one.
“We have to take back our homeward bound brothers and sisters. This is a big humanitarian challenge. In addition to that we have to keep them and the people staying inside Odisha safe,” said state government’s chief spokesperson on Covid-19 Subroto Bagchi.
The lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus ends on May 3.
“Most of them will be returning from States like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Telengana and Andhra Pradesh where the number of infected people and apprehension of infection is much higher than ours.”
Odisha now has 83 cases of Covid-19 after it reported four new cases on Wednesday, all with travel history to neighbouring West Bengal.
Odisha’s ratio of positive cases to samples tested is the lowest in the country and only one person has died of Covid-19 so far.
Of the 83 positive cases in Odisha, 28 or about one-third of the patients had clear travel history to Bengal, where the cases are surging over the last few days.
Many of the people who tested positive, sneaked in through ambulances, fish trucks and other hired vehicles from Bengal. With the porous border failing to prevent people from sneaking in, the Odisha government on Wednesday barricaded more than 50 roads connecting Balasore, Mayurbhanj districts to West Bengal.
At least 10 platoons of police have been put on round the clock vigil. Apart from deploying police on the border, chief minister Naveen Patnaik administered the oath of responsibility to sarpanches to prevent people from crossing through the border.
Aware of the risk of infection that the migrant population could bring from May 4 onwards, the state government said it would start an online portal, through which thousands of people stranded in various states will register to get back to the state once the lockdown is relaxed. The registration will begin on April 24.
Principal secretary of Panchayati Raj Department DK Singh said all the migrants planning to come back to Odisha will have to mandatorily register on the portal for their return. The registration can be done by the migrant person himself/herself, anyone on behalf of the person or a relative of the person in his native who will have to fill a form and submit it to the officials at Gram Panchayat.
Through the registration, the government will get to know about the details about the returnees and make arrangements for transport and other medical facilities for them at respective Gram Panchayat level, Singh said.
“Once they arrive, they will be sent on quarantine at temporary medical camps set up at GP level for 14 days. They will be allowed to go back to their houses after the quarantine,” Singh said.
