COVID-19 lockdown : Nearly 5 lakh people likely to return Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government is expecting that nearly 5 lakh people are likely to return to the state from other states after COVID-19 lockdown is lifted, said an official on Wednesday.

Around 7.5 lakh people from Odisha are stranded in other states of the country.

“Around 7.50 lakh people from the state are stranded in other states. They are desperate to get back to their homes. Nearly 5 lakh persons are expected to return to the villages of Odisha from other states after movement restrictions are lifted,” said Panchayati Raj secretary D.K. Singh.

The state government is developing a dedicated online portal, through which they can resister to return to the state. This will begin on April 24.

“Without registration on the government portal, no person will be allowed to return to the state. With the registration, the government can know about their details so that it can make necessary arrangements at respective Gram Panchayat (GP) level,” said Singh.

Singh said the registration can be done by the person concerned or anyone else will do it on behalf of the person or a relative of the person can fill a form and submit it to the official concerned at the GP level who will do the registration.

The returnees will be mandatorily quarantined for 14 days. They can’t go to home directly. Sarpanchs will play a decisive role in this.

Around 7,000 temporary medical camps have been set up at GPs.

“At present, we have 2 lakh beds at the temporary medical camps. However, the bed number will be increased as we expect around 5 lakh people to return,” said the secretary.

Earlier on Wednesday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik administered oath of responsibility to Sarpanchs to fight against coronavirus.

The sarpanchs were administered an oath to quarantine people visiting their villages from other states and to make proper arrangements for their stay.

(INAS)