Screen & log all returning migrants: Maharashtra home minister

PUNE: With over 15,000 returning migrant workers showing up at the state’s major transit points daily, Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh has asked officials to ensure record-keeping and health screenings are kept up at all such locations.
Pune alone has been seeing nearly 400 workers turn up at checkpoints every day.
“The district administration and police have been directed to log details of all those who are returning from other states,” Deshmukh told TOI on Saturday.
Many of the 10 lakh migrant workers who had left the state during the lockdown are planning to return soon, the minister said, while adding that screenings for symptoms and record-keeping will be key to efficient Covid-19 monitoring. Most of the workers are from Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Deshmukh’s orders, issued on Friday, will likely apply renewed pressure on district officials who had said it will be “impossible” to ensure every worker adheres to norms such as the 14-day mandatory home quarantine before resuming duty.
The minister said Pune should have similar measures as Mumbai, where the police keep records of every person entering the city.
Migrant workers have to pass through thermal screenings at main transit points. They have to then enter a 14-day home quarantine period before resuming duty at places like construction sites. Workers can be entered into institutional quarantine if there’s no space for distancing at accommodations.
The majority of migrant workers are headed to Pune and Mumbai, but regions in Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli, Nagpur and Godia are expected to see an increase in numbers of returnees soon.