18,000 Stranded Arunachalis To be Brought Back: Pema Khandu

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu onSaturday said that the state government is reaching out to the people strandedoutside due to the ongoing nationwide lockdown. Nearly 18,000 students andworkers hailing from the state of Arunachal Pradesh are stranded in variousparts of the country and the state government is trying to bring them back.

Khandu while speaking at a special session at E-AgendaAaj Tak, said that since the nationwide lockdown has been extended, they wantto make sure that people from the state who are stranded outside don't suffer. "Oursenior officers are keeping in touch with the people so that they don't faceany problems," the chief minister said.

He further stated that only six districts in theNortheast are under the Orange Zone and all districts in Arunachal Pradesh arein the Green Zone.

He said, "We have decided to bring back ourstranded people in a phased manner. In the first phase, we will bring backArunachalis who are stranded in other Northeastern states. We have started aportal for this. People from other states will be brought back in the secondphase."

Asked about students and workers stranded in Delhi, hesaid Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, a Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh, is intouch with them.

"Officials at the Arunachal Bhavan in Delhi iskeeping in touch with them. We have yet not decided people from which stateswill be brought back first in the second phase. We will soon hold a cabinetmeet and all-party meet on this," he said.