Strict protocols in place for migrants, says Jharkhand official

Gaurav Pandey | TNN | May 5, 2020, 05:00 IST

Ranchi: Around 6,000 persons, including migrant labourers and students, returned to state in the last four days and the state government has enforced strict protocols to screen and conduct surveillance on all of them.
Talking to TOI, assistant state transport nodal officer cum transport commissioner, Faiz-ak-Ahmed Mumtaz, said, “With four lakh migrants expected to arrive in Jharkhand via rail and road, we have placed strict protocols for their movement, surveillance and screening to contain the virus spread.”
Mumtaz said the state government is working round-the-clock and is co-ordinating the process right from registration of the stranded people till they are sent home or to institutional quarantine. He said, “The migrants are supposed to fill a form issued by state government, which included their home addresses with proof based on which they are added to the travellers’ list and provided with permission to travel. Besides, each traveller is thermally screened at his or her point of origin and at their destinations. Soon after their arrival at their respective districts, they are examined by health department teams and are suggested home or institutional quarantine.”
To ensure that migrants do not violate the quarantine advice, surveillance protocols have also been put in place till block levels in co-ordination with sahiyas and elected representatives so that infected persons are screened and do not spread the viral infection.
Apart from trains, several districts, including Deoghar, Garhwa and Sahebganj and Dumka, also dispatched buses to neighbouring states to ferry migrants back home. The respective district administrations have issued guidelines and protocols for the bus journeys which include listing the details of all travelers and conducting of screening and medical examination.
Talking to TOI, Deoghar DC Nancy Sahay said, “I have received the first bunch of students from Kota on Sunday who reached Deoghar via Dhanbad. Moreover, we have sent three buses to Raipur and Cuttack and they are expected to return on Monday night or Tuesday morning. Apart from screening at boarding and destinations, I have personally instructed all those who returned to refrain from violating quarantine rules as we are going to continue with strict surveillance on all of them. If anyone is found violating home quarantine rules, we will immediately transfer them to institutional quarantine.”
Sahay further said, “We have deployed Asha and health workers in each block to conduct random checks in villages in co-ordination with local panchayat nominees to ensure that nobody tries to violate their quarantine period.”
Meanwhile, a train carrying 1,200 labourers from Tiruvananthpuram was diverted to Jasidih in Deoghar as more than 80% of the occupants were from Santahl Pargana division. The train was set to reach Ranchi by Monday evening.