"Assam government will not stop anyone from returning home, but I request, don't return if it's not necessary," Himanta Biswa Sarma

Since the time the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) announced that none of the districts in Assam are in the red zone, and only three in orange, people of Assam started asking about inter-state travel. Today, the minister of Health, Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma held a press conference and announced that the inter-state borders will open in Northeast from May 3, 2020, onwards for inward passengers.

“Anybody who has personal vehicles or can arrange transportation can return to Assam from any of the Northeastern states without any pass or approval. The Assam government has communicated the same to all the state governments in the Northeast,” said Sarma.

He added that the state government will arrange transportation for those who do not have their own vehicles but that would take time. “We will inform about that, this is for the residents of Assam currently stuck in the neighbouring northeastern states.”

The minister said that he often gets asked by people about the ones currently residing in states outside the Northeast. “Assam government will not stop anyone from returning back to their motherland,” said Sarma. Adding, “It is my sincere request to all the people living in different states and especially in the Red Zone or Hotspots, please do not return unless you need to. It is possible that once people return to Assam from Red Zones and Hotspots, they will put their family, statemates in danger. So, I would request, wait for a few more days.”

For the people living in Green zone, Sarma said in all likelihood economic activities will resume gradually and then they won’t need to return. “Someone who is working in a factory or has his or her own business in other states don’t need to return once the businesses, or offices restarts. We need to understand that once someone returns he or she will not be able to go back immediately,” said Sarma.

Yet people who want to return from states outside northeast can write to assamtransportrelief@gmail.com for pass and return after arranging transportation by themselves. “Our estimate is that there are about 20 lakh residents of Assam who are living outside the state. It won’t be possible for the government to transport everyone back immediately. We will give priority to those who are stranded and need to come back. Assam Police will work in the verification process and transportation will be arranged in coordination with the Railway Ministry. When the trains will start and from where, we will work all that out but it would take some time,” informed the Minister.

He said residents of Assam living in states outside Northeast need to give a missed call at 7428159966 and they will receive a link to a form within 48 hours where they need to feed in their details. Sarma reiterated that people should think before they decide to travel back and only do so if it is extremely essential. The minister said that migration in large number will put pressure on the medical infrastructure, quarantine facility and could also result in inflation in the number of COVID positive cases.

For the people coming in by roads, a facility will be built at the entry points in Srirampore and Baksa and every traveler will be screened there. Following the screening, depending on the destination the travelers will be allowed a nonstop pass to the next destination. For the passengers traveling to Barak Valley from outside Northeast, they will be first screened at Srirampore and then in Silchar. Cachar district administration depending on if the passenger is symptomatic or not will decide if he or she should be stamped for home quarantine or sent to a facility.

“We have come across tweets and posts on Facebook where people complained about the food and care in quarantine facility. We have decided to associate with hotels and provide paid quarantine facilities to the residents of Assam. We will provide them the rate card during and they can choose the hotel they want to go for depending on their needs. A team of doctors will check them at their respective hotels,” informed Sarma.

As far as inter-district communication within Assam is concerned, from May 4, 2020, onwards, ASTC buses will function across Assam. “The number of buses will be less but the facility will be available. Buses can fill only 50 per cent seats and the 50 per cent loss that ASTC incurs will be borne by the state government,” informed Sarma.