Govt Issues SOP For Sending Back Migrants Stranded In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: With the Centre allowing movement of migrant workers, pilgrims, tourist and students amid COVID-19 lockdown, Special Relief Commissioner P K Jena on Friday issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) for sending persons stranded in Odisha to their home states by road or rail.

In a letter to collectors/municipal commissioners, he said that the Odisha government has
put in place a robust monitoring system and designated nodal officers for various states for necessary co-ordination.

THE SOP
1. Prior approval of recipient state is a must before departure of any train/bus from any district/municipal corporation in Odisha

2. For road journey by means of bus/ vans, the  transit pass will be provided by the authorities here. The counterpart collectors/commissioners of municipal corporation/state co-ordinator in the recipient state should be informed with the details of passengers, destination (district & block) and their mobile numbers. One of passengers, having a smartphone, may be designated as the group
co-ordinator, whose mobile number may be passed on to the recipient collector/municipal commissioner/co-ordinator.

3. The destination station/border check point the recipient state for each train/ bus/ van will be decided by recipient state government

4. The returnees should be grouped block-wise/district-wise, while boarding the buses/ vans/ trains, as far as possible, for easier logistics.

5. As per MHA guidelines, the passengers have to screened for health status and only after proper assessment they should be cleared for travel

6. No person should be allowed to travel without appropriate authorisation.