NEW DELHI: A 14-day quarantine in state-run camps is mandatory for lakhs of migrant workers who are returning to their hometowns in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in special buses amid a nationwide lockdown over coronavirus or COVID-19.
Thousands despondent to return home had crowded bus stations in Delhi on Saturday after over 500 buses were provided for them by state governments in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
Heartbreaking visuals over the last few days had shown migrants trying to reach their native towns and villages on the foot. Transport services, including interstate buses and passenger trains, are shut for the next three weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Tuesday decision of “total lockdown” to curb the spread of COVID-19.
In Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed all the district magistrates to trace over 1.5 lakh migrants who have returned to the state in the last three days, quarantine them in state-run camps and ensure arrangements for their food and other everyday needs. Their names, addresses and phone numbers have been made available to these officials and they are being monitored.
Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said. More than 65,000 calls were made to village heads last night to ensure the arrangements, “All of these migrant labourers have to stay in government camps for 14 days. They would not be allowed to return to their homes,”
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Last night, however, as some batches reached eastern UP’s Deoria district, many of them were allowed to go to their villages after a thermal scanning. Visuals from the bus station showed the workers queuing up, being scanned by a team of doctors and health workers.
