Buses carrying migrant workers from Surat won’t be allowed anymore: Odisha govt

BHUBANESWAR: Stranded workers from Surat will not be allowed to travel back to Odisha by bus by the state government in view of the series of mishaps en-route and inconveniences caused to the travellers during the long-distance journey. They will be allowed to return only by trains.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by chief minister Naveen Patnaik through video conferencing.
Keeping in mind the problems like proper food and water especially to the women and children and other issues like accidents and chances of sunstroke, the chief minister directed that the stranded workers will only be allowed to travel by trains, which has been now running on daily basis, said a senior officer, who attended the video conferencing.
“Permission to travel by bus has also been denied as many people are returning to the state by bus without registering their names with the state government portal, which causes problems at the border check points. Most of the buses from Surat are overcrowded. Also, some of the buses are also not adhering to the route chart given to them by the state government. Train journey is more streamlined,” the official said.
Nearly 200 buses carrying around 12,000 workers have already entered the state while Ganjam is the destination of most of the buses. Around one lakh workers are expected to return to the state from the Gujarat city.
Now, three trains are being run between Surat and Jagannathpur in Ganjam on a daily basis since Monday.
Two workers were killed and several injured when the bus they were travelling from Surat met with an accident at Kalinga Ghat on Ganjam-Kandhamal border. Several others also injured in two separate accidents on Nagpur-Amaravati NH and again at Kalinga Ghat.
As the Centre has prepared a plan to bring back stranded Indians from abroad which also includes many Odias, Naveen said their registration, testing and quarantine will be ensured before coming to Odisha, said an official statement. Many Odia people form Ganjam districts are migrated to middle-east countries to work in the oil refineries.
The chief minister during the meeting directed senior officers appointed as observers of six migration-prone districts like Ganjam, Kendrapada, Bhadrak, Balangir, Jajpur and Balasore to create livelihood opportunities for the returnees, said government chief spokesperson Subrato Bagchi.
The chief minister also emphasised on smooth resumption of agricultural, economic and livelihood activities in as many as 16 districts identified as green zones. Naveen asked officials to ensure conduct of agricultural activities for the forthcoming Kharif season and procurement activities of the recent Rabi crops. He stressed on providing crop loan to farmers and also to women self help groups (SHGs) for various livelihood activities.
The women SHGs, who play key role in providing food to the sick and destitutes in rural areas, will get incentive of Rs 2 per meal from the chief minister’s relief fund. The chief minister lauded the women SHGs.
While reviewing the Covid-19 situation in the state, the chief minister asked officials to enhance testing capacity of the state to 15,000 per day from the existing 3,000 per day.
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