1.90 lakh people have sought return to Karnataka

A total of 1.90 lakh Kannadigas have applied to return to Karnataka, of whom the state government has approved 1.26 lakh till date. Out of these people, 1.1 lakh are either currently in or have been recently released from institutional quarantine.

A majority of those who want to return are from neighbouring states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

According to data from the State COVID-19 War Room, 37% of these applicants - 70,739 - have sought to return to Bengaluru. Of the applications, less than half are approved till date.

Karnataka has temporarily prohibited interstate movement from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat due to a high load of COVID-19 cases being reported from returnees of these states.

Since the Centre relaxed norms for interstate travel of migrants, more than 1.10 lakh people returned to the state and they are kept in 14-day institutional quarantine. The return also caused the cases to surge in Karnataka as returnees from Maharashtra added 217 positive cases to the state's toll between May 18-20.

Shramik trains

Meanwhile, the Centre's recent decision to withdraw consent of states for operating Shramik trains to different parts of the country, will have no bearing on Karnataka yet. The prohibition on entry of people from Maharastra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu will continue, as no Shramik trains were scheduled from these states to Karnataka.

According to authorities, only two Shramik trains ferrying local people have arrived in Karnataka till date and none of them originated in the states from which entry was restricted. N Manjunath Prasad, nodal officer for inter-state travel told DH that most Kannadigas in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu had arrived by road. Sources in South Western Railway said that there were no Shramik trains scheduled from these states as yet.

Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan, who is also a member of the Karnataka’s COVID-19 task force told DH that though the state government had its own view on the issue, Centre's decision will prevail if any trains are dispatched to Karnataka. "We will abide by it in the larger interest of humanity. Migrant workers have suffered enough. So for their sake, we have to accept the decision,” he said.