On Saturday morning, over 70 migrant workers left the COVID-19 centre, situated in the Nawada district of Bihar. They alleged that the centre in which they were staying was unhygienic, with poor facilities, including the lack of food.
Out of the 200 migrants who were quarantined at the Aadarsh Inter School in Nawada’s Sirdala Block, one of them had tested positive for COVID-19.
Local news channels aired the visuals of migrants fleeing from the facility with their belongings. Among them, there were some women with their children. Meanwhile, local officials have started tracing them.
This was not the first instance when migrant labourers had to run from their respective centres in Bihar. Earlier too, over 20 migrants left the quarantine facility located in Katihar, citing lack of amenities and food.
The principal secretary of State disaster management department, Pratyay Amrit had said, “the state has been providing food, drinking water, soap and other required facilities for migrants at each and every quarantine centre. Besides, sanitary napkins are also being provided to women.”
Moreover, the Bihar Government has also prohibited the entry of media at quarantine centres.
“The ground realities are quite different from what the Chief Minister and the officials have been announcing in Patna…the situation at block level quarantine centres are not only bad but pathetic where no one can stay even for an hour,” a local journalist from Katihar told The Hindu.
It has also been decided that the local-level committee under Circle Officers (COs) will be formed to manage quarantine centres set up at block levels with proper care. The Panchayat members too will be actively participating in the panel.