MHA Permits Stranded Migrant Workers, Students, Others To Return Home, BUT CONDITIONS APPLY!

The order says whoever is seeking to be transported back home will have to be medically screened at source as well as the destination.

Those seeking to be transported back home will have to be medically screened at source as well as the destination. (Image: PTI)

New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday issued a fresh set of guidelines just a week before the lockdown ends which now allows the stranded migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students to travel back to their home states. As per the new guidelines, this interstate movement of the stranded people will be expedited by the concerned states and Union Territories government. The order says, whoever is seeking to be transported back home will have to be medically screened at source as well as the destination. They will first be kept in a home or institutional quarantine on arrival.

Government permits inter-state movement of stranded migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons by road

They would be allowed to move after the concerned States/UTs consult each other and mutually agree to their movement ▶️ https://t.co/a6FfiSITmo pic.twitter.com/pZ6F0BBEGh — PIB India #StayHome #StaySafe (@PIB_India) April 29, 2020

The order from the Home Ministry says all states should designate nodal authorities and develop standard protocols for receiving and sending such stranded persons. In the circular issued, the Ministry of Home Affairs has also directed all the states to appoint nodal authorities and develop standard protocols for receiving and sending such stranded persons. The order says, "Nodal authorities shall register stranded persons within their states or union territories". The MHA order strictly stated that the stranded migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students will be allowed to move with conditions during the lockdown. Here's the official communication by Home Ministry to States/UTs: In case a group of stranded persons wishes to move between one state/UT and another state/UT, the sending and receiving states may consult each other and mutually agree to the movement by road.” According to the orders of MHA, the transportation of such individuals will be done via buses, as train or flight services are currently unavailable for passengers. The buses should be sanitized first and the authorities will have to follow protocols of social distancing while seating passengers in the vehicle. The Ministry of Home Affairs said that the states or union territories falling on transit route should allow passage of these stranded people.