Nagaland chief secretary Temjen Toy tells Umanand Jaiswal on Thursday that the states should benefit if the Centre issues guidelines on issues with inter-state equations/implications with respect to lockdown 4.0 to check the spread of coronavirus.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q: Since states could have more say in deciding on the restrictions in the next phase of lockdown, do you see any area/s of conflict between states?
Temjen Toy: Issues like movement of commercial passenger vehicles would be the main conflict. If one state lifts ban on movement of commercial buses and the other doesn’t, then movement of such buses will not be possible through that state. There will be conflict of interests and inconvenience to travellers.
Q: What should be left to the states to decide vis-à-vis lockdown restrictions...?
Toy: Local issues which do not have inter-state implications.
Q: Nagaland has no Covid cases now. Do you think this no-case situation reflects the true picture?
Toy: By the grace of God, Nagaland has no Covid cases. There has been no widespread reports of people suffering from ILI (influenza-like illness). This should reflect the ground situation.
Q: Will the situation change now that the stranded have started arriving? Is Nagaland prepared?
Toy: Nagaland was preparing for a staggered arrival of stranded persons by special trains with SoPs put in place for their quarantine, among others. However, the introduction of commercial railway services threw these plans a bit out of gear. We are now recalibrating our SoPs to handle those arriving through such trains and subsequently, by flights when they resume.
Q: Is Nagaland testing enough for Covid-19?
Toy: We are a little short on testing. However, this will change after our labs are made operational. With the limited facilities, we have tried our best to put in place infrastructure for handling Covid cases. Apart from infrastructure, the human response of the health workers is also important. This will be put to test if and when we get positive cases.
