Pradeep Singh

Bhubaneswar: Alleging mismanagement at quarantine centres across the State, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday lashed out at the Odisha government and warned of massive protests if the issues are not resolved on a priority basis.

State BJP general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan said that the State government is not following the standard operating procedure (SOP) for COVID-19 testing at the quarantine centres. Though there is a provision to conduct the test of quarantined people within five days, it's not happening in Odisha, he alleged.

"From the very beginning, we had assured the State government of all assistance and said that in case of any mismanagement at quarantine centres, we will bring it to notice. Not conducting COVID-19 test of people seems like a conspiracy of the government to super-spread the virus in the rural belt," said Harichandan.

If the State government doesn't follow the SOP, the BJP will stage protests against the ruling-BJD, warned Harichandan.

Responding to the allegations, ruling-BJD MLA, Debi Mishra said that by keeping people at quarantine centres the State has been able to contain the spread of the virus so far.

"A 14-day quarantine helps people recover and also reduces social contact to limit opportunities for transmission of the virus," said Mishra.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants everyone to come together to fight the virus, everyone should rise to the occasion and avoid blame game else it will have adverse effect on the progress made so far, he added.

Allegations from lack of basic facilities, mismanagement to irregularities in food distribution at quarantine centres have surfaced from across the State.

It is also alleged that the State is not following the guidelines issued for establishment of quarantine centres, including securing the entry and exit points, deploying trained human resources, catering, ensuring adequate toilets and other related activities.

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