SHILLONG: Seven families have come back to Pynthorbah locality from Assam in the first week of this month and are in home quarantine. But till date, relief has not been delivered to their doorstep, some families told The Shillong Times on Saturday. Monika Sen, who came from Silchar along with her husband and teenaged son, said they are living with her sister’s family in Block 1 of the locality and the entire family is quarantined. They came here on May 7. “We cannot go out because we have been told by the Dorbar not to.
I had some food stock before going to Assam and that is helping us now. We have not got any supply of food from the government and the Dorbar has been informed yesterday (Friday) and earlier too but with no avail. We are waiting for Dorbar representatives,” said Sen, whose husband works as a painter.
The families have to be in quarantine for 14 days and as per the norm, the government has to supply essential goods to their doorstep.
Chotan Sen, a contractual worker, came back from Silchar with his wife and three children on May 6 and they have not received any relief since. He too said the Dorbar has been informed.
“The necessary tests have been done while crossing the state border and we had to register our names too. We were told at that time that we have to be in quarantine. It’s been three days no one called up or visited us,” said the resident of Block II.
When asked how they are getting food, he said the family was seeking help from neighbours.
“We do not go out except for fetching water. We keep the door locked all the time,” he added.
Headman H Roy said the families have come back “but I am not sure whether they are following the rules”.
“Some of the members are flouting the quarantine rules. We have told them but in vain. So we have informed the BDO,” said a young member of the Shnong.
Besides, there are two former staff of Bethany Hospital in the locality who, after the detection of the first positive case in Meghalaya, went into home-quarantine, said Roy.
The locality is large and people are mostly disobedient and the headman admitted that it is impossible to keep check on everyone.
Roy sounded exasperated when he talked about the lack of synchronisation between the Dorbar and the state government.
For instance, the state converted Rympei Ki Paitbah, belonging to the Catholic Church, in the heart of the residential area into a quarantine centre and “it bypassed the Dorbar Shnong”.
“But this is not the time to rake up such issues. It is the government’s responsibility in case of any incident,” Roy said.
Health Minister AL Hek, who is also the local MLA, said he got the complaint a week ago and “the Dorbar has sent a letter to the government through me”.
“Most of the people are in home-quarantine and those people are negative. So there is nothing to fear and I have told them that,” he added.
Curiously, the government, instead of quarantining the seven families in the centre, asked them to stay home.
Hek said if these people do not have facilities at home, then “I can speak to the BDO and the Dorbar about shifting them to the centre”.
When informed that the families were not getting home delivery even after registering their names while entering the state, the minister asked for the names and contact numbers of the families and promised to look into the matter.
A large chunk of the local population comprises economically backward families. Many of them do not have ration cards from Shillong or no card at all.
Supriya Begum and her family shifted to the locality from Fourth Furlong in Polo about five years ago. The family has ration card from Assam.
When informed that she can avail essentials from fair price shop using that card during the lockdown, she said she did not know and they have “never got anything from anyone”.
“We are distributing the items which were donated by the MLA from the scheme and the MDC. The MLA gave 71 bags of rice and dal,” said Roy, adding, “Essentials have been distributed in two phases.”
