Sikkim chief secretary S C Gupta on Sunday chaired the State Task Force meeting to review the evacuation process and other aspects related to it amid COVID-19 lockdown.
The chief secretary took detailed feedback from the district collectors, SPs and CMOs, and members of the State Task Force.
He expressed satisfaction about the process of screening and quarantine of returnees over the last few days.
District collectors briefed about the status of labourers, who are stranded in the State and are willing to return to their home states.
Also read: Sikkim begins bringing back stranded people amid COVID-19 lockdown
They shared the data of people in this category.
The chief secretary said Sikkim has done much better than other states in terms of resumption of economic activities.
This he said was evident from the data provided by the district collectors that most of the labourers are preferring to stay back in Sikkim.
Further, the chief secretary informed that the Centre is likely to make provision for special trains for north-eastern states to evacuate people.
He said the State Government is pursuing the matter.
He said the State Government is in correspondence with the governments of other north-eastern states.
He emphasized on strict implementation of social distancing norms.
He said resumption of normalcy does not mean that people start taking things for granted.
Also read: Sikkim issues strict guidelines to contain COVID-19
He informed about the immediate implementation of “The Sikkim Public Health and Safety (COVID-19) Regulations, 2020” as a regulatory measure for containment of COVID-19 in the State, which makes violation of norms as a punishable offence.
He informed that Land Revenue & Disaster Management Department has notified this Rule. He issued strict directives to all the DCs and SPs to strictly implement the rules and ensure that social distancing norms are not violated and there will be strict implementation of these rules on the ground.
Likewise, secretary to Land Revenue & Disaster Management Department informed that copies of the Rule are ready and have been dispatched to the District Collectors and SPs for immediate enforcement.
Regarding the movement of trucks, the chief secretary called for strict enforcement of the notified norms and guidelines.
The chief secretary also called for utmost vigilance ensuring compliance of all the guidelines.