Bihar govt closes migrants' registration for institutional quarantine

The Bihar government has closed the registration of migrants returning to Bihar for putting them in 14-day institutional quarantine from Monday as movement of people has opened across the country, a top official of the Disaster Management department said.

So far 28 to 29 lakh migrants have returned to the state and of them, 8.77 lakh people have been discharged from quarantine centres after completing their 14 day quarantine period. Besides, 5.30 lakh migrants, till date, are living at block and district level quarantine centres across the state, he said.

"Yes, we have stopped the registration of migrants from Monday for putting them in 14-day institutional quarantine... Why will anyone (migrant) be registered and for what when restrictions on the movement of people have been lifted in the country. How do you know who is migrant because now anyone can come either by train, bus, car or any other mode," Disaster Management Departments Principal Secretary Pratyaya Amrit told PTI on Tuesday.

"The arrangement (of putting migrants in quarantine) was introduced when movement of people was either banned or restricted," Amrit said. During the lockdown period, people had to avail passes from the competent authorities to undertake travel from one place to another. But with the introduction of unlock 1, such requirement has been done away with.

He, however, asserted that door-to-door health monitoring would continue and that medical facilities would remain the same from primary health centres to level I and level II hospitals.

Asked whether quarantine centres would be closed after June 15, the principal secretary said that these centres will be closed after June 15 when the 14-day quarantine period of the last batch of registered migrants ends. "Why quarantine centres will remain open when there will be no one at these centres after the arrival of last batch (which was supposed to come Bihar by June 1). We had written letter to the official concerned to send the special (shramik) train by June 1. If we take this into account, the quarantine period will come to an end on June 15," he said.

Schools also have to be vacated for starting of academic activities, he said. So far, 28 to 29 lakh migrants have reached Bihar in its biggest ever evacuation exercise, he claimed. The state governments decision comes at a time when many migrants returning to Bihar have tested positive for COVID-19. According to the data released by the state Health department, the number of migrants who have tested positive since May 3 is 2,743.