Former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Saturday accused Governor Jagdish Mukhi of violating the COVID-19 protocol by stepping out of the Raj Bhavan, marked a quarantine zone, to visit flood-affected areas.
Mr. Gogoi also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party-led State government for sudden withdrawal of containment zone from the Raj Bhavan to facilitate the trip on Friday.
“The Governor’s House was declared a containment zone after 73 officials and staff tested positive over the past few days. But the restrictions were suddenly lifted,” he said.
“Besides, the 77-year-old Governor, the constitutional head of the State, visited the affected areas in violation of protocol instead of being an example to the fellow citizens,” Mr. Gogoi said, asking how the common man could be expected to follow rules and regulations if the Governor does not.
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Raj Bhavan officials said the Governor and his accompanying staff adhered to all safety measures during his visit to western Assam, which was deemed necessary as he was the administrative head of the Bodoland Territorial Council following its dissolution on April 27.
Home quarantine reduced
The State government has reduced the home quarantine from 14 to seven days as at least 1,000 positive cases continue to be added to the tally.
Samir K. Sinha, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, attributed the reduction from Saturday to the “evolving situation”.
Coronavirus India lockdown Day 123 updates
Barring 972 cases on July 22, more than 1,000 positive cases have been recorded every day since July 20 when the three-week complete lockdown in Guwahati was lifted. Lockdown on Saturdays and Sundays in the city and night curfew continue to be in force along with the rest of the State.
Till Friday evening, Assam had recorded 29,921 positive cases, of which 9,143 were active while 76 persons had died. Among the other northeastern States, Tripura led the death tally with 11 followed by Meghalaya with five, Arunachal Pradesh with three and Nagaland with one.
Sold infant rescued
The police in western Assam’s Kokrajhar district on Friday reunited a woman with her month-old daughter. Her husband, a jobless migrant labourer, had sold the baby for ₹45,000 on July 2.
“We arrested the man from Dantola Mandaria village and two women on charges of human trafficking,” a police official said.
The man said he had been facing extreme poverty after returning from Gujarat, where he worked as a labourer. He decided to sell the baby, his second daughter, after failing to find any work locally for subsistence, the police said.
