Kerala Govt’s paid quarantine is a sound policy

The Kerala government’s decision to make returning expats pay for the mandatory institutional quarantine has kicked up a political controversy with the opposition losing no time to call it unfair. That other states have been doing this and the Centre’s guidelines too required the returnees to bear the expenses of their institutional isolation didn’t help the Pinarayai Vijayan government. On the face of it, this is an unwarranted controversy given how the government has been extremely accommodative of the expats’ needs and their demands to be brought back.

There are two reasons why the state government isn’t being unfair when it asks the returnees to pay. One, the expats are returning on their own request, and the evacuation window is open only for those who are desperate to return knowing the consequences fully well. Two, the government, running on empty coffers at the moment, can’t afford to bear the expenses of all the returnees. About 10,000 non-resident Keralites have returned so far and another lakh and a half are expected to return. Assuming that all will have to go through the same drill of one-week institutional isolation, followed by another week of home isolation, the government is looking at a huge quarantine bill if it has to pay all of it. The truth is it requires whatever funds it can gather and more to fight the pandemic and keep the state machinery running.

Moreover, it’s already taking care of the testing and entire treatment expenses of all. And the chief minister has clarified that only those who can afford will be made to pay for quarantine arrangements. Though the reasoning is sound, there is no surprise that this has provided the opposition with another opportunity to corner the government. But one must bear in mind this is the same opposition that wanted the government to bear the airfares of the returnees. Having taken a bold and sound decision, the government should not buckle under pressure. At the same time, it must make sure that those who can’t afford paid quarantine, especially those who have lost jobs or were stranded abroad for long without money, are not made to suffer again on arrival.