N Bengal gears for returnees .... Officials are equipped to check and segregate those found positive at the point of disembarking

SNS, Siliguri, 11 MAY 2020: Administrative officials in north Bengal responsible for Covid 19 management are worried and are making preparations on a warfooting as hundreds of migrant workers are set to ret urn home from different places in the country in Shramik Trains.

The officials now fear community transmission of coronavirus, given the migrant workers influx. Health officials have said they are ready to

screen those migrant workers, along with others like students, pilgrims, tourists, and patients and their relatives who may also return in special trains that resume services tomorrow.

Notably, planters haw said that they have been informed by the health department that such persons reaching Darjeeling by train and buses are being checked at the disembarking place and provided with certificates.

"Positive cases are segregated at the point of arrival. Outsiders entering tea garden/village areas without proper medical documents need to be reported to the police. The administration has made a provision to run mobile testing vehicles, one for each sub-division,"sources associated with tea industry said.

Darjeeling's Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH), Dr Pralay Acharya, said: "We have started screening outsiders, as students from Kota have arrived in our region. We are preparing for those who are coming. We will be getting the list of migrant workers from tomorrow. They will be segregated at the first arrival point and sent in quarantine. Positive Covid patients, immediately after detection after tests, will be admitted in the Covid Hospital in Siliguri. SARI patients will be admitted in SARI hospitals. Suspected patients will be kept in quarantine centres and other protocols will be maintained."

Official sources said the list of migrants and others will be prepared at the New Jalpaiguri Station in Siliguri after their arrival.

Notably, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs today said that only passengers holding confirmed e-tickets will be allowed to board the trains after screening and that passengers, despite having confirmed tickets, would be debarred from boarding if they are found infected during boarding.

Gardens allowed half workforce

On the other hand, the state government has allowed planters and stakeholders to deploy 50 percent workforce to pluck green leaves, manufacture tea and for other work in the gardens.

President of the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Planters'Association (USIA), Bijoy Gopal Chakraborty, welcomed the decision.

The state had earlier allowed planters to deploy only 25 percent, though the Centre had okayed 50 percent.

"Since the appropriate time has passed, the export market is closed, shipping is yet to open, and the decision is not much of joy for Darjeeling. It may be good for tea gardens in the plains,"a senior planter in the Hills, however, said.

"This is the fourth notification since 28 March related to deployment of workforce. But not a single word related to workers wages has been spoken despite reminders from our end. Secondly, despite the government order, the managements had to engage workers as per their requirements. At many places, machines were pressed in to pluck leaves. This is nothing but the managemenes'need based deployment' that has paved the way to a 'hire and fire' policy, virtually ruining livelihood of tea workers," said the General Secretary of the North Bengal Tea Plantation Employees' Union, Abhijit Roy.

CPIM trade union leader Saman Pathak also said that the government should also look into the tea workers' wages.

"A notification was taken out by the state government that 50 percent workers in tea gardens will be allowed. On 11th April it was 25 percent, before which it was 15 percent; said Mr Pathak.

"Such notifications in favour of the management is being brought out by the government while on the other hand the order that all tea garden workers should get wages is not being followed, so why is a notification for that not being taken out?" he said.

Mr Pathak also claimed that the Joint Forum of unions wants all directions of safety and security set by WHO and the Disaster Management Act to be followed in the tea gardens.