The Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday issued orders to allow interstate travel for stranded people, including migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists and students. The MHA in its order stated that all those who travel should be medically screened at the source and those and destination, and will be kept in home or institutional quarantine upon arrival.
All states and Union Territories have been asked to designate nodal authorities and develop standard protocols for receiving and sending such stranded persons. The nodal authorities shall also register the stranded persons.
The MHA order states that in case a group of stranded persons wish to move between one State/UT and another State/UT, the sending and receiving states may consult each other and mutually agree to the movement by road. Buses shall be used for the transport of groups of persons. The buses will be sanitized and shall follow safe social distancing norms in seating
The person who is travelling will be screened at the spot he is leaving from and those found asymptomatic would be allowed to proceed. On arrival at their destination, they will be assessed by the local health authorities, and kept in home quarantine, unless the assessment requires keeping the person(s) in institutional quarantine. They would be kept under watch with periodic health check-ups.
Earlier on April 19, the MHA had allowed labourers, who are stranded in different parts of the country due to the ongoing lockdown, to go to their respective places of work within a state with certain conditions. The order issued by Bhalla had said that due to the spread of coronavirus, workers employed in industry, agriculture, construction and other sectors have moved from their respective places of work and are housed in relief and shelter camps being run by state and UT governments. Since additional activities, outside the containment zones, have been permitted in the consolidated revised guidelines with effect from April 20, these workers could be engaged in industrial, manufacturing, construction, farming and MNREGA works.
(With PTI inputs)