HANM demands Govt to do away with home isolation of COVID-19 patients

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMay 26, 2021

The Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (HANM) has requested the state government to do away with home isolation of COVID-19 patients.

“We request the government to do away with the home quarantine and start a quarantine centre in each and every locality within the state,” HANM president Lamphrang Kharbani said in a memorandum to the Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday.

He said home quarantine will not help in reducing the number of COVID-19 cases but will surely put the family members of the positive cases in danger.  

“We have seen that people who tested positive which are asymptomatic are not taking the disease seriously and there have been cases reported that these people are roaming freely without care,” Kharbani added.

The HNAM leader further said state like West Bengal and Karnataka are using their spaces at their football fields and other areas to construct temporary shelter so that they can quarantine their citizens.

“So the question is why can the government of Meghalaya built a temporary shelter in Shillong and other areas so that positive persons can be quarantine for a short period of time,” he stated.

Further, the HANM has also sought the intervention of the CM into the hue and cry of the farmers of the state as they cannot sell their produce in the market due to the lockdown.

Kharbani said farmers are also harassed and fined by the police for trying to sell their produce in the outskirt of Shillong. If farmers cannot sell their produce in Shillong then where will they sell them, he asked.

“Hence, we suggest to the government to hire more vehicles from the villages itself, grant them the car passes…so that they can help our farmers,” he said.

Meanwhile, the HANM also requested the state government to stop entry of migrant labourers who may be spreader of the virus.