MARGAO: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has questioned the government on the logic behind having different quarantine rules for different travellers. They pointed to the different set of quarantine rules for those coming from abroad and those flying from ‘red zones’ in the country. They added that it has been ‘raining SOPs’ that have hardly been of use in containing the spread of COVID-19.
AAP leader Ramiro Mascarenhas opined that the blind adherence by the Goa government to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs without checking it’s feasibility in the State, was causing more distress to the already weary Goan travelers, who were stranded due to failure of the government to get them back in time during the lockdown. “A domestic passenger coming from a red zone like Mumbai or Delhi takes a test and without waiting for the report goes home. A Goan traveller coming from another country is forced into paid quarantine in hotels where even the basic facilities are not in place. Can the government explain whether there is any scientific basis behind this discrimination? Mangor or Calangute, infection has come from across the borders. Isn’t it a scam to only force some into hotels?” Ramiro questioned.