KOLKATA: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday sent a letter to West Bengal government and warned that many, who availed flights under Vande Bharat mission and landed at Kolkata airport from overseas, skipped seven-day mandatory quarantine norm and returned home.
The MHA asked the state government to ensure seven-day quarantine for all of those returning from other countries in the special flights.
According to the norms laid down by the MHA in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic, those willing to avail Vande Bharat flights will have to fill up a form at the source airports stating that they will directly go to quarantine facilities after landing at their destinations. In Kolkata, the state government made arrangements at six hotels near the airport where returnees, who will not prefer to go to the state-run facilities, can pay and spend seven-day quarantine period.
On last Tuesday, 168 persons returned to Kolkata from Kuala Lampur and 140 of them went home straight from the airport. Most of the returnees had gone to Malaysia to work as labourers.
"They filled up forms before boarding the flight from Kuala Lampur declaring that they would quarantine themselves at private hotels in Kolkata for seven days. But after landing at Kolkata airport, they refused to go to private quarantine centres saying they had no money. When the representatives of the state government asked them to go to the state-run quarantine centres, they refused. The argument continued till 2 am and only 28 of the passengers agreed to go to hotels while the rest left for home from the airport," said an official of Kolkata airport.
On June 19, 143 persons returned from Kyrgyzstan and all of them went home. "Most of them were medical students. All of them said they had no money to spend seven days in hotels. But the brands of the cars that arrived from the airport to receive them did not corroborate their money crunch theory," said the official.
In the letter, the MHA mentioned three more occasions on June 4, 8 and 10 when returnees went home straight from the airport.
On the scheduled day of Vande Bharat flight’s arrival, officials of the health department and the department of small and medium scale industry present at the airport along with police personnel. "We conduct medical examination of returnees and try to trace whether any of them have Covid-19 symptoms," said a health department official.
When asked, an official of small and medium scale industry department which has been assigned to ensure seven-day quarantine of the returnees said, "We are preparing a list of those who skipped quarantine norm and went home. The state government will take steps in this regard."
On Thursday, police were seen cordoning off the area outside the airport and none of the relatives was allowed to meet those who returned from foreign countries. Vehicles were kept ready and returnees had no option to go on his own as a special corridor was in place using guard-railings that leads to state government’s vehicles from the airport exit.