Frame SOP for smooth return of people stranded across country: Patnaik to PM Modi

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday sought framing of a national standard operating procedure (SOP) for smooth movement of lakhs of people stranded across the country due to the lockdown imposed to combat COVID-19.

The proposal was put forward by Patnaik during a video conference held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the chief ministers of different states and Union territories to discuss issues pertaining to the coronavirus outbreak.

Patnaik highlighted that a large number of students, workers, pilgrims, patients and professionals were stranded in different parts of the country, far away from their homes, because of the nationwide shutdown, state government chief spokesperson on COVID-19 Subroto Bagchi told reporters here.

Urging the prime minister to take necessary steps to create standard operating procedures to ensure smooth movement of these stranded people, Patnaik said such a mechanism would facilitate the movement of those stuck in different places in a systematic and disciplined manner.

The chief minister was of the view that this would ensure seamless journey across states and enable people desiring to return to their native places to proceed without hassles, the official said.

The chief minister also urged the Centre to take necessary steps to make certain that the workers grounded in different parts of the country are taken care of and looked after by the respective states in order to mitigate their plight, said Bagchi.

The state government has estimated that over five lakh migrant workers from Odisha are now stranded in different parts of the country, officials said.

Patnaik has already held discussions with the Gujarat and the Maharashtra governments regarding steps required to facilitate the safe return of Odia workers held up in these two western states.

During the video conference with the prime minster, Patnaik also demanded steps to substantially increase the COVID testing capacity in Odisha for quick detection of coronavirus cases, Bagchi added.

Odisha, which had only one COVID testing centre at RMRC in Bhubaneswar early in March, now has eight state-of-the-art laboratories in different parts to conduct the much-needed test.

Testing capacity has also been increased from 250-300 to around 2,500 daily and the state is in need of more facilities to deal with the situation, the spokesperson said.