Bihar govt seeks time for status report in HC on quarantine centres

The Bihar government Friday failed to submit the status report on quarantine centres before the Patna High Court and sought time to do the same. The court has fixed June 2 as the next date of hearing on the matter.

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On May 13, the HC had sought the Bihar government’s reply on a public interest petition (PIL) seeking direction to the government for better and hygienic living conditions and food in the quarantine centres, set up to house migrants returning to Bihar in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic, in accordance with the guidelines of the ministry of home affairs (MHA).

Advocate General Lalit Kishor, appearing for the government, told the bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice S Kumar that he would himself appear in the case henceforth. “The government needs some more time to prepare the status report,” he added.

The petitioner, Rajeev Ranjan of Sonepur in Saran, had drawn the attention of the court towards media reports, viral videos and instances of migrants fleeing from quarantine centres and complaining about lack of facilities.

As per the statistics of the disaster management department, there are quarantine camps functional at the block level housing around 7.5 lakh migrants.

So far, 638 trains have arrived with nearly seven lakh migrants at different stations in Bihar. The challenge of providing quarantine facilities to all is turning out to be a big challenge for the government

The chief minister has said that all those interested in returning to the state will be brought back