The Bihar government has made Covid-19 test mandatory for those coming from other states during Diwali and Chhath festivals, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Monday.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of his weekly public interaction programme 'Janata Ke Durbar Mein Mukhyamantri', Kumar said, health department officials will maintain special vigil on people arriving from other states at all railway stations, bus stands and interstate border check posts, and also make necessary arrangements for Covid-19 test at all these places. If people reaching Bihar are not found vaccinated, the government will make arrangements for their inoculation, he said, underscoring the need to be more vigilant during the festival season.

The state police force has also been directed to remain alert, he said. "Security forces as well as the people of the state must remain vigilant during the ongoing festival season to prevent anti-national forces from succeeding in their nefarious designs. I have also been taking regular review meetings for better coordination between the civil administration and police," he said. When asked about the implementation of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems (CCTNS), the chief minister said, the project aimed at comprehensive policing is being executed very effectively. The CCTNS is a Government of India project for creating a comprehensive and integrated system for effective policing through e-governance. The project is being executed by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). It seeks to integrate all data and records of crime into a Core Application Software (CAS), covering all states and union territories.

A total of 894 police stations in Bihar have already been brought under CCTNS and around 202 more will be covered by the end of this year, a senior state police official said. The project was launched after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.