Navigating uncharted waters — Temjen Toy

Our Correspondent
Kohima, May 15 (EMN): Chief Secretary Temjen Toy on Friday said that the Nagaland government has been forced to change gear as the number of stranded citizens registering to come to Nagaland is ‘huge’.

It has therefore issued another standard operating procedure (SOP) owing to the capacity of quarantine facilities in the state. He however maintained that the state is now ready to receive the stranded persons.

He said that trains (paid by individuals) will be coming regularly and added that the special train arranged by the state government will start soon in a regulated manner, so that the quarantined facilities are not overwhelmed.

According to Toy, the special train is expected to arrive in the state “at least by mid-next week from Chennai” with about 1500-1700 persons.

He informed that the government has arranged quarantine facilities according to the district; upon arrival, the stranded people from Peren, Dimapur and Mon, forming the largest number of people, would be kept in Dimapur and the remaining districts in Kohima.

The official also stated that for practical purposes, the stranded persons returning to the state would not be categorised as ‘orange and red except for green zones’. He informed that those people who have started coming in from north-eastern states are bound to be mixed up in the trains and that would be difficult to segregate according to zones. Everyone will be categorised under red zone, he added.

Toy said that everyone (stranded persons) would be kept in quarantine mandatorily for three-four days to undergo detailed screening, as the government does not have the capacity to test everyone. He also informed that after proper screening, those people who are from other districts would be sent to their respective districts for quarantine.

Meanwhile, Toy commended the officers and staff in the Covid-19 war room stating, “the team has been handling well, their passions have been tried on numerous occasions but then we have been encouraging each other; they’re doing excellent job”.

He appreciated the commitment of the team and added that they are tirelessly working for the cause of the people in the state.

On the issue of some stranded persons who have not received the first assistance released by the government, Toy said that there are some issues with the bank as the name of the beneficiaries did not match with the name entered during registration as well as bank account number and other issues.

However, he maintained that the issue was being sorted out by ‘screening out’ as some were fraudulent and some had benefited from the CM relief fund either by cash or materials that was distributed through the unions and agencies, and therefore those persons were left out for now.