UP prepares for medical screening of those returning from abroad

The Yogi Adityanath government has started making arrangements for medical screening of stranded Indians at Lucknow and Varanasi airports when they return from various countries later this week.

Additional chief secretary, home, Avanish Awasthi, said the chief minister had asked for screening and quarantine arrangements to be made at Lucknow and Varanasi. If required, Hindon airport at Ghaziabad can also be used and arrangements are being made there too.

Awasthi said, "So far, one flight from Sharjah is scheduled to arrive in Lucknow in the coming days with about 200 passengers. However, the protocol for bringing them back, where the passengers will be quarantined, how they will reach the state, will be prepared by MEA and the state will carry out any directions that are given."

"At this point it is not clear whether more flights will be coming to UP. It is also to be worked out whether passengers will land in some other city like Delhi, will be quarantined there or brought back to the state. There will be greater clarity on this within this week," the official said.

Awasthi said more than 65,000 migrant workers and students had been brought back or moved around within the state in the recent weeks. He said permission to 29 Shramik Trains had been given to come to UP, some of which had already reached while others were on their way.

He added that till now, 15.47 lakh unskilled workers had been put to work on MNREGA projects in 37,694 village panchayats across the state. UP ranked second among the states in providing employment under MNREGA.