Tripura law minister Ratan Lal Nath on Tuesday said a total of 8,208 stranded persons have registered themselves with the state government to return home.

“Around 8,208 people of our state, who were stranded in other states, contacted us and registered themselves to return home. It is not possible to tell the total number of stranded. We are going by the number of registrations. It can be more,” Nath told reporters.

He said his government has received 1,221 applications for vehicle passes.

“We are giving priority to patients and students of our state who are stranded. We have received around 1,221 applications for vehicle passes and issued many. Those who are working in other states and have somewhere to stay are also requesting us to bring them back. But our priority would be the students and the patients. While issuing vehicle passes we are following the same rules,” the minister said, adding that the government has spent Rs 1.57 crore to provide financial help to 4,138 stranded people so far.

He said since May 1, 1,130 people, including 925 truckers, have come through Churaibari gate in North district, which is the entry point to Tripura from any other state via Assam.

“We are quarantining everyone coming from the hotspot in North district. If their test reports are negative, we are releasing them and putting them under home quarantine. We have a capacity to keep 716 persons in quarantine facility across North district in seven locations,” he said.

Chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb tweeted that the state government has launched a portal, http://covid19.tripura.gov.in for the stranded.

Rajya Sabha MP Jharna Das Baidya has also written to Deb requesting him to arrange trains from Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Calcutta and New Delhi for the stranded people and notify the schedule of the trains well in advance.

She requested the chief minister to pay their train fares.