COVID-19 lockdown: Naveen Patnaik, Vijay Rupani discuss safe return of Odia migrants
The Naveen Patnaik government on Sunday decided to bring back migrant workers from the state who are stranded in Gujarat due to the nationwide lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had a video conversation with his Gujarat counterpart Vijay Rupani regarding the migrant workers. Patnaik discussed the safe return of Odia migrants stuck in the western state amid nationwide lockdown. The final decision was taken after Naveen Patnaik, Vijay Rupani and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan held a discussion via video conference on Sunday.
According to an official statement from the Odisha Chief Minister's Office, "Two senior officials from each state would be part of a committee to chalk out the details of the transport, likely by buses. Other mediums of transport will also be part of this discussion."
It was also decided that Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh governments would be requested to waive the road tax for the buses for the transportation of the migrant labourers from Gujarat.
Notably, the state government has made mandatory registration of all migrants willing to return to Odisha. The government has developed a portal for the purpose.
After their return, they will have to stay in quarantine for a period of 14 days.
Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases in Odisha reached 103 as three more persons tested positive for the COVID-19, informed Health Department on Sunday.
The three persons are from Sundargarh district. With this, the number of active COVID-19 cases in the state touched 68 while 34 persons have recovered so far.
(With Inputs from IANS)
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