A returnee, after completion of the quarantine, will also be given monetary incentive of Rs 2,000.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday addressed the state on steps to be taken by locals while receiving the returning immigrant population to their villages and towns to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Stating that “extraordinary situations call for extraordinary solutions”, the Chief Minister said the state delegates “the powers of District Collectors to sarpanches of the Gram Panchayats for their jurisdictions”. This empowerment of the sarpanches, under Section 51 of the Disaster Management Act of 2005, Epidemic Diseases Act 1897, and Odisha COVID-19 Regulations of 2020, is to enable a smooth tracking and monitoring system of people returning to the state.
Patnaik said that every Gram Panchayat will have a registration facility, where it is mandatory of returning population to either self register or get their details enrolled by relatives. The returnees will then be placed in panchayat quarantine facilities for 14 days – where accommodation, food, and treatment will be provided free of cost.
A returnee, after completion of the quarantine, will also be given monetary incentive of Rs 2,000.
The state’s revenue and disaster management department has issued guidelines on activities that will be allowed from April 20, subject to adherence for social distancing norms. Hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, and medical equipment shops along with testing labs, can be allowed to operate.
Bank branches will be allowed to work as per normal working hours till disbursal of DBT cash disbursal is complete, while oil and gas, power sectors will also be allowed operations. All agricultural and horticultural activities will be fully operational, along with activities related to fisheries and animal husbandry.
Air, railroad and bus travel, inter district movement for non medical reasons, educational instutions and entertainment places such as malls and shopping complexes will continue to remain closed. All religious places of worship will also remain closed, while funeral congregations of more than 20 will not be permitted.