Major relief for 40,000 stranded people of J&K
2000 more cross Lakhanpur border from various States
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Apr 29: In a major relief for over 40,000 residents of Jammu and Kashmir stranded across 18 States of the country including 11,000 in New Delhi alone, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs today allowed movement of migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded at different places across the country due to lockdown under a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
The MHA in another significant decision has permitted the people to be kept under home quarantine after their arrival in respective States/UTs instead of institutional quarantine which was the practice prevalent at present for all those reaching various States including Jammu and Kashmir.
While the MHA issued the order today, the J&K Government is likely to come up with guidelines and SOP on movement of the workers shortly. As many as 2000 more workers today crossed Lakhanpur, the gateway to Jammu and Kashmir, from different States mostly Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh and were sent to their respective district headquarters in the Government buses by the district Kathua administration.
Additional Resident Commissioner, Jammu and Kashmir in New Delhi, Niraj Kumar, who is coordinating with stranded persons of J&K in the entire country, told Excelsior on the telephone this evening that till this time they have recorded 37,000 persons of J&K stranded in 18 States but said the figures could fluctuate as names are being recorded in different Help Lines.
“Number of Stranded persons could be even 40,000,” Kumar said, adding that 11,000 inhabitants of J&K are stranded in New Delhi alone.
Other States where large number of J&K people are stuck due to nationwide lockdown included Kerala, West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Telangana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh etc.
Niraj Kumar said they have even received calls from abroad including Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Cambodia and some other nations where stranded people of Jammu and Kashmir have sought their evacuation.
“We have compiled entire data of the stranded people,” he added.
Stranded people mostly include workers, students, labourers, staff of private sector, tourists, general visitors and those who had gone for treatment in various hospitals but were stranded following lockdown.
As per the MHA order released today by Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, the migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded at different places will be allowed to move due to lockdown.
“All States/UTs should designate Nodal authorities and develop standard protocols for receiving and sending the people held up. The Nodal authorities will also register the stranded persons within their States/UTs,” the MHA order said, adding in case a group of stranded persons wish to move between one State/UT to and another State/UT, , the sending and receiving States may consult each other and mutually agree to the movement by road.
However, the MHA order made it clear that the moving persons would be screened and only those found asymptomatic would be allowed to proceed.
It said the buses will be used for transporting the stranded persons. However, the buses will be sanitized and will follow safe social distancing norms in seating.
“The State/UTs falling on the transit route will allow passage of the stranded persons to the receiving State/UT,” the Home Secretary’s order said.
The Home Ministry said the States/UTs on arrival of stranded persons would assess their condition through local health authorities and keep them in home quarantine, unless the assessment required keeping the person(s) in institutional quarantine.
“The returned persons would be kept under watch with periodic health check-ups. For the purpose, such persons may be encouraged to use Aarogya Setu App through which their health status can be monitored and tracked,” the official order said.
It added that for home quarantine, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has already issued guidelines on March 11.
Meanwhile, 2000 more stranded people of J&K mostly the workers today reached Lakhanpur, the entry point of Jammu and Kashmir, from different States including Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab etc and were sent to their respective district headquarters in the Government buses by the district Kathua administration.
Deputy Commissioner Kathua OP Bhagat said all 2000 workers were sent to the districts they belonged in the SRTC buses with the directions to the concerned district administration for their institutional quarantine for 14 days.
Over 8000 students, workers and other stranded people of the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have so far been brought from different States and UTs where they had been stranded during lockdown.
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