Covid-19 negative: Testing time for Railways, opportunity for racketeers

There was chaos at Bihar’s Buxar railway station last week after news spread that commuters from Maharashtra were being subjected to Covid-19 tests. As passengers scurried to avoid being tested, videos of the incident were widely shared on social media, with strong reactions pointing out how this might lead to further spread of the deadly virus.
 
Situated on the banks of the Ganga, Buxar borders Uttar Pradesh. This means that commuters from Maharashtra, one of the worst Covid-hit states, will likely spill over to at least two populous states with poor health infrastructure.
 
The incident might be the most documented but it was not the only one where commuters dodged Covid testing for fear of being holed up in isolation wards. “Most travellers fear that they would be sent to relief camps, as was the case during last year, if they were found positive. This stigmatisation of the disease makes it harder to treat and commuters go out of their way to get a clean chit,” said Sudhakar, a passenger in the Patna Rajdhani, who recently travelled from Delhi.
 
According to a Railway Ministry spokesperson, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, and Odisha have written to the Centre mandating Covid-19 testing for inbound rail commuters. These states want RT-PCR reports of passengers to be screened before they start their journey. As of now, the Railways would assist the states wherever required at the ‘point of arrival’ in the manner decided mutually by the state government and zonal Railways. This means that Covid test reports of passengers will need to be checked at the point of arrival, if the state they are deboarding at specifies so. But the situation is dynamic and the Centre is constantly reviewing the situation with state governments.

 
Mandatory RT-PCR test is being followed by airlines for allowing passengers onboard for states that insist on such a test.
 
Earlier this month, states like Rajasthan had sought mandatory Covid-19 negative test reports for passengers coming from Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Kerala. Other states like Tamil Nadu had made e-registrations mandatory for the railway passengers coming to their state. In Assam, passengers in trains coming through Maharashtra, and Karnataka were to undergo screening for symptoms and then subsequent Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) if found symptomatic.
 
On Sunday, Maharashtra also announced that train passengers from Kerala, Goa, Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat, and Uttarakhand would require a negative RT-PCR test report to travel to the state. The test needs to be taken at least 48 hours before travel.
 
Commenting on the steps the national transporter is taking to guide passengers through these testing times, the spokesperson said: “Through its ticket booking websites, announcements, and messages, the Indian Railways constantly keeps informing and advising prospective travellers to plan their journeys such that they are as ready for state-specific RT-PCR clearance and other norms. It's important for passengers to know beforehand before embarking on their journeys.”
 
Commenting on how the mandatory RT-PCR test screening would be conducted, he said: “It’s a medico-administrative issue which would be decided by the state and railways at the local level, depending on local conditions and circumstances.”
 
Invariably, this has also led to a racket of forging Covid-19 negative test reports. Instances of fake RT-PCR tests have been recorded in Surat, Pune, Delhi, and Kerala. Some travel agencies have also been rounded up for generating fake Covid-19 negative certificates to allow smooth transit across borders. In Lucknow, Covid-19 tests are being conducted at over thrice the official price as demand significantly outstrips the supply of test kits.
 
In addition to the tendency to get a sure shot negative report, one of the reasons for the flourishing fake Covid-19 test reports racket is the delay in getting a genuine test report. “I had got an RT-PCR test done on April 9; the report came on April 15. That is over 144 hours later. It is impossible to travel if I get the report so late,” said Jasbeer from New Delhi.
 
The Delhi government has acknowledged this delay in getting RT-PCR reports and recently removed one of the private labs from its approved list.