Odisha Govt Issues SOP for Sending Stranded People to Their States

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government has come with a standard operating procedure (SOP) for sending stranded people including migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists and students to their respective states.

After the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) allowed movement of people stranded due to lockdown, the State Government has prepared the SOP for the smooth movement of stranded people from Odisha to their home states by road or rail.

Odisha Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena wrote to all district collectors and municipal commissioners in this regard urging them to ensure smooth return of about 60,000 “guest workers” to their respective states.

The State Government has also appointed nodal officers for different states to ensure that the people from other states reach their native places safely.

As per the SOP, the prior approval of the recipient state is mandatory before departure of any train/bus from any district/municipal corporation in Odisha.

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 and block) and their mobile numbers, the SOP said.

One of the passengers, having a smartphone, may be designated as the group co-ordinator, whose mobile number may be passed on to the recipient state’s collector/municipal commissioner/co-ordinator, it added.

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

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

As per the MHA guidelines, the passengers have to be screened for health status and only after proper assessment they should be cleared for travel
No person/group of persons should be allowed to travel without appropriate authorization from the state, it added.

Notably, there are about 90,000 migrant workers stranded in Odisha. The State Government has described them as “guest workers” and set up several temporary camps to provide them food, medicines and other essential items.