COVID-19: J&K Govt devises App to track incoming students, labourers

Srinagar, May 8: To contain COVID-19, Kashmir administration has devised an App to regulate the movement of incoming students and labourers after entering Kashmir.
As per the official details over 30,000 labourers from Jammu and Kashmir are stranded in various parts of the country. Besides there are thousands of students and businessmen, who are stuck in various parts States amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has allowed Indian Railways to operate special passenger trains to ferry stranded migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons back to their homes.

At the same time, the Kashmir administration has made a plan how to bring the stranded people back home and ensure there is no spread of virus.

“Government has devised an App which shall regulate the movement of the incoming students, labourers and others after landing in Kashmir. Since the number of these incoming students and labourers is huge and cannot be put to institution/administration quarantine. They shall be put to home quarantine,” reads a government document.

An official said the App will monitor the movement of people entering Kashmir. “This App will help the government to track movement of every person to ensure they remain either administrative or home quarantine,” the official said.

Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Pandurang K Pole as per the document has directed that Director Health Services Kashmir to establish a separate home quarantine desk which shall share the information with regard to the incoming students, with PRIs/Aishas/ surveillance teams well before one day of the travel of these persons so that necessary steps are taken for the surveillance/ monitoring.

“DHSK shall ensure 100 percent sampling of the persons coming to valley from outside UT and in this connection shall formulate 30 additional sampling teams. After the declaration of the testing results positive persons shall be hospitalized and negative persons shall be sent to home quarantine immediately where they shall be put to surveillance by the teams already constituted,” the document reads.

Police Department has been directed to ensure proper escort parties from tunnel Qazigund in the buses/vehicles coming outside Valley to the respective districts and shall ensure that no person is allowed to get down midway.

The Centre has said that passengers have to be screened by the sending states and only those found asymptomatic would be allowed to travel. The state governments sending the stranded people will have to bring these persons in batches to the designated railway station in sanitised buses following social distancing norms and other precautions.

It will be mandatory for every passenger to wear face cover. Meals and drinking water would be provided to the passengers by the sending states at the originating station. (KINS)

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