The authorities have also decided to keep records of all combine harvesters and their drivers and their movement so that spread of the disease may be checked immediately if any case comes to light.

To rule out chances of any COVID-19 infection because of harvesting machines and their drivers coming from other states, Haryana agriculture officials are mulling screening and medical check-ups at nakas.

For example, there are 13 entry points to Fatehabad district of Haryana from neighbouring Punjab and Rajasthan. Police have been deployed at each entry point to effectively implement the lockdown. Now, the authorities are also planning to deploy health officials at the nakas so they may conduct medical check-ups of drivers of combine harvesters and other workers accompanying them when they enter the district. Their combine harvesters and threshing machines may also be sanitised at entry points.

“The idea is simple — that no infected person or machine from another state enters Haryana. If anybody is found unwell, medical examination and treatment will be ensured,” Rajesh Sihag, deputy director, Haryana agriculture and farmers’ welfare department told The Indian Express.

The authorities have also decided to keep records of all combine harvesters and their drivers and their movement so that spread of the disease may be checked immediately if any case comes to light. Panchayats have been asked to submit the records to the block development and panchayat officers (BDPOs) concerned.

The panchayat department has been involved in the task of ensuring sanitisation of harvesting machines at the village level too. Fatehabad Deputy Commissioner Ravi Prakash Gupta has issued instructions to all panchayats in this regard. The deputy commissioner has asked officers to ensure announcement in villages to inform farmers that that they shouldn’t hire a combine harvester without informing the village panchayat.

Issue temporary cards to provide ration: MLA

Dabwali Congress MLA Amit Sihag has urged the government to issue temporary ration cards to provide ration to the poor. “The government should restore cards to all Below Poverty Line (BPL) families whose cards were withdrawn after 2014. A large number of families don’t have any kind of cards which deprive them of any facility,” Sihag told The Indian Express. “Because of ongoing lockdown, many of the APL (above poverty line) families have lost their employment and are facing starvation. The government must supply ration to those families too which have APL cards,” he added.