All India Motor Transport Congress seeks clarification on inter-state movement in Maharashtra after new Covid guidelines

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 24 : All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) has sought "urgent clarification" from the Maharashtra government regarding the movement of drivers and crew members of commercial vehicles in light of its order to allow only people with negative COVID-19 test report to enter in the state.
"AIMTC has sought urgent clarity from Government of Maharashtra regarding the movement of the drivers and crew members of lacs of commercial vehicles who frequently travel in and out of Maharashtra in light of order issued by Department of Disaster Management, Govt of Maharashtra to screen and allow people with negative Covid-19 test report to enter into Maharashtra through rail, air or land," Bal Malkit Singh, Chairman, Core Committee and former president, AIMTC said.
"There is a lot of ambiguity in the transport fraternity as lakhs of vehicles frequently travel in and out of Maharashtra State maintaining the continuity of the supply chain. We look forward to an immediate clarification and SoP for commercial vehicle operators travelling to Maharashtra from other states," Bal Malkit Singh added.
According to the new guidelines released by the Maharashtra government on Monday, every passenger arriving from Delhi-NCR, states of Goa, Rajasthan and Gujarat will have to mandatorily carry a Covid-negative (RT-PCR) report while travelling by either rail, road or train. They will have to bring the test report from a sample collected 96 hours before the scheduled arrival in the state.
"Passengers not having the RT-PCR test reports will have to compulsorily undergo RT-PCR tests at concerned airports at their own costs. The airport shall arrange the testing centres and charge the passengers directly for testing," a government notification read.
In a letter to the state government, AIMTC said, "The crew members of commercial vehicles make frequent and multiple trips into Maharashtra and every time they will have to get RT-PCR test done and the cost has to be borne by them. This will be a cumbersome and delaying process for them thus making the vehicle operators reluctant to travel to the State of Maharashtra and the entire supply chain in the northern and western belt will get disrupted."
AIMTC demanded an urgent clarification for the standard operating procedure of truck drivers and crew members "so that the same may be timely circulated across the country and any unforeseen disruption of the supply chain."