Bringing back stranded Keralities: Preference to pregnant women, students and aged

Kochi: More than 1.5 lakh Keralites stranded in other states, due to Covid19 national lockdown, will start their return journey to Kerala from today. Authorities have started issuing travel passes to those who enrolled with the Non-Resident Keralite Affairs (NORKA) website.

Entry of Keralites returning from other states has been restricted through six border points across the state. The state government has already chalked out an action plan for receiving the stranded Keralites.

The Covid19 protocol like health check-up and disinfecting the vehicles will be strictly complied with at all the entry points. After entering the state, they will be quarantined either in their homes or in isolation centres. The local health workers will monitor them regularly throughout the quarantine period.

Inchivila in Thiruvananthapuram, Aryankavu in Kollam, Kumily in Idukki, Walayar in Palakkad, Muthanga in Wayanad and Manjeshwaram in Kasargod are the six entry points.

The government has instructed those registered with the NORKA website to start their return journey only after getting their travel passes.

While bringing back the Keralites, priority will be given to those who went for medical treatment, students, those who went to attend examinations, pregnant women, children and aged. Earlier, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said that those who went to neighbouring states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for farming works will be brought on priority basis.