OUR BUREAU
GUWAHATI/JAGIROAD: Gaon Panchayats to Form War Rooms: The spread of COVID-19 in villages gives the State Health department sleepless nights. As if to cap it all, over 300 youths coming by train from Kerala dispersed to their respective villages from Jagiraod Railway Station on Sunday, without any COVID-19 tests. This looks like a recipe for disaster.
Now the assam gaon panchayat (GP) presidents are on their toes. The responsibility mostly lies on them and the parents of the youths who came from Kerala. The GP presidents can identify the youths whose parents should also contact the GP presidents for immediate COVID tests of their wards.
It was at a meeting on Saturday, State Panchayat and Rural Development (P&RD) Minister Ranjeet Kumar Dass asked the GP presidents to form war rooms and task forces in their respective GP areas to fight the virus on the theme – our village, our fight.
"Though the disease was earlier confined in the urban areas, with time it has spread to the rural areas too. Therefore, as frontline workers for the development of villages, gaon panchayats have to play pivotal roles in the fight against COVID-19. The fight against COVID should be taken up as a Jan Andolan," Dass said.
Now the prime duty of the GP presidents is to identify the cause of the spread of COVID-19 and take preventive measures to curb and eliminate the transmission of the virus in their respective areas.
Minister Dass also instructed the GP presidents to see if COVID protocols and guidelines for those in home isolation are properly followed in their areas.
The passengers who fled were from the three districts of Morigaon, Nagaon and Karbi Anglong. Out of the 144 tested passengers, four were found asymptomatic positive, and all are from the Morigaon district. The Health Department suggested they stay isolated and sent them home by a 104 ambulance.
Sources in the Health Department said that the incident of Jagiroad Railway Station is unfortunate as it happened at a time when it is all out to prevent the virus from spreading further to rural areas. Over 300 youths from Kerala entering their respective villages without any COVID-19 tests may spell disaster in rural areas. Sources in the department said that the parents of the youths should act responsively and contact their respective GP presidents to pave the way for COVID tests of their wards, immediately.
Jagiroad Railway Station sources said that usually, 100-150 passengers get down from the weekly train from Kerala at Jagiroad, and they had no information that over 400 passengers would get down at the Railway Station on Sunday. They said that the situation went haywire when over 400 passengers alighted at the Railway Station, and over 300 of them forcibly went out of the station.