Migrants arrival in Bihar posed unmanageable crisis but it was averted: Sushil Modi

The unexpected arrival of tens of thousands of migrants amid the lockdown posed an "unmanageable" crisis for Bihar but it was defused with a number of effective measures, state Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said on Thursday.

The state government decentralised its efforts by turning one school in every panchayat into a quarantine facility, and villagers, keen to avert any spread of the coronavirus pandemic, also wanted the exercise to succeed, he told PTI.

While critics have questioned the Nitish Kumar-led government's measures to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, Modi said few states have taken decisions like Bihar.

Apart from turning one school in every panchayat into a quarantine centre, the state government also decided to test everybody who arrived in the state from abroad after March 18, something no other state has done, he asserted.

Asked if he faults the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi for the massive exodus of migrants from the national capital after a nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 24 midnight, the BJP leader said he will not "blame any state" and that these labourers also wanted to go home under the circumstances prevailing then.

The situation, however, could have been managed better, he added.

Migrants, mostly labourers, arrived in such large numbers in Bihar that it was creating chaos, he said.

Over 52000 people arrived, throwing a spanner in the state government's plan to quarantine them at border.

"It was not possible to keep them in camps. We were forced to bring them to their respective villages. We had decided to turn one school in every panchayat into a quarantine centre. Now they have been put up there. Things otherwise could have been unmanageable," Modi said.

This decentralisation effort has elicited support from villagers as well as they fear infection and want these migrants to undergo the protocol put in by the government before entering their homes, he said.

He brushed aside the opposition's attack on the NDA government over a few incidents of people running away from quarantine, some alleging poor facilities.

"In a big country like ours some incidents may happen. It has happened in many states as people are often unwilling to be quarantined. We cannot use police or Army to force the poor. That is why we have promoted quarantine in these schools and also at home," he said.

Bihar has so far reported 24 confirmed coronavirus cases, including one death.

Bihar, Modi added, is the only state which has decided to test everybody who arrived from abroad for coronavirus.

The government has also traced most of the 86 people from the state who had attended a Tablighi Jamaat meeting in Nizamuddin area, which has emerged as a hotspot of the spread of virus, in Delhi.

Bihar, he asserted, took strict measures very early, noting that its assembly session was called off on March 16, and its schools and colleges were already closed by then.

It had announced a lockdown in urban areas on March 22 after the state's first case of coronavirus was reported.

With lakhs of poor migrants from Bihar continuing to remain in different states, the state government has decided to give them Rs 1,000 each to help them irrespective of whether they have ration card or not, the deputy chief minister said.

Their numbers could be 25 lakh or 40 lakh as the government does not know but they all can get help by submitting certain details, he stated, adding that the Bihar government received over 10,000 calls from across the country from these migrants and reverted to each of them.

Over 86 lakh poor pensioners, out of which over 50 lakh are covered by the state government, and over 1.68 crore ration card holders in Bihar are being given Rs 1,000 each, he said, listing measures taken by the Nitish Kumar government to deal with the crisis.

Assembly elections in the state are due later this year, and the handling of the coronavirus crisis by the JD(U)-BJP government in the state is sure to have much bearing on the polls.