Bihar: ‘21-day quarantine must for returnees to get dues’

PATNA: The state government has announced that only those migrants who complete the mandatory 14-day quarantine at their respective centres and seven days of home isolation will receive reimbursement of train fares and other financial assistance.
Pratyaya Amrit, principal secretary of the state disaster management department, has directed all DMs to spread the message to migrant workers housed in quarantine centres across the state through loudspeakers.
“A large number of migrants are at present housed at the block quarantine centres. Some of them are not even putting pressure to go home but also indulging in violating discipline by putting up road blockades etc,” the letter reads. The DMs were told to ensure the directive was implemented within 24 hours to keep the quarantine-cum-relief centres in order.
The letter said that though there were control rooms in all district headquarters to listen to the complaints of the migrant workers, but still there were reports coming that some inmates are creating law and order problem as well.
According to authoritative sources, around 1.3 lakh migrant workers were staying at 3,665 quarantine centres across the state. On May 4, CM Nitish Kumar announced that the state government would not only reimburse the train fare but also give additional Rs 500 to all those migrant returnees after completion of their 21-day quarantine.