BHUBANESWAR/CUTTACK: The Odisha government has kept in abeyance all yet-to-start incoming Shramik Special trains after the Orissa high court asked it to allow only those workers who test negative for Covid-19 to return home.
Four such trains — three from Surat and one from Panvel in Maharashtra — which were supposed to start their journey on Friday now stand cancelled. The four trains would’ve brought around 4,000 people. Trains that have already left for Odisha will be allowed to continue their journey to the state. Three trains from Surat and one from Calicut, which have already left for the state, are likely to reach on Friday.
“The state government should ensure that all migrants who are in queue to come to Odisha should test negative for Covid-19 before boarding the conveyance,” a division bench of justice Sanju Panda and justice K R Mohapatra said, while hearing a PIL.
The PIL, filed by Narayan Chandra Jena, a resident of Cuttack Sadar, contends that Odisha had had a relatively low number of Covid-19 cases but was now being turned now into a sitting duck for further spread of the disease due to the arrival of its overwhelmingly high migrant population. The petition was heard through video-conferencing on Thursday.
“We will examine the HC order before taking a decision,” a senior state government official said.
In a related development, the government requested the Centre to ensure migrant workers are tested at the places they are stranded in, especially in red zones, before being allowed to return. State health minister Naba Kisore Das and healthy secretary Nikunja Bihari Dhal made this request to Union health minster Harsh Vardhan in a video-meet.
“Out of the 1,000 samples of Surat returnees, around four per cent has returned positive, which is very high. Keeping this in mind, we have requested the Union health minister to ensure migrants are tested and only those whose samples return negative are allowed to board a vehicle home,” Das said.
Four such trains — three from Surat and one from Panvel in Maharashtra — which were supposed to start their journey on Friday now stand cancelled. The four trains would’ve brought around 4,000 people. Trains that have already left for Odisha will be allowed to continue their journey to the state. Three trains from Surat and one from Calicut, which have already left for the state, are likely to reach on Friday.
“The state government should ensure that all migrants who are in queue to come to Odisha should test negative for Covid-19 before boarding the conveyance,” a division bench of justice Sanju Panda and justice K R Mohapatra said, while hearing a PIL.
The PIL, filed by Narayan Chandra Jena, a resident of Cuttack Sadar, contends that Odisha had had a relatively low number of Covid-19 cases but was now being turned now into a sitting duck for further spread of the disease due to the arrival of its overwhelmingly high migrant population. The petition was heard through video-conferencing on Thursday.
“We will examine the HC order before taking a decision,” a senior state government official said.
In a related development, the government requested the Centre to ensure migrant workers are tested at the places they are stranded in, especially in red zones, before being allowed to return. State health minister Naba Kisore Das and healthy secretary Nikunja Bihari Dhal made this request to Union health minster Harsh Vardhan in a video-meet.
“Out of the 1,000 samples of Surat returnees, around four per cent has returned positive, which is very high. Keeping this in mind, we have requested the Union health minister to ensure migrants are tested and only those whose samples return negative are allowed to board a vehicle home,” Das said.
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