It said the new guidelines will come into effect from 4 May, “which shall give considerable relaxation to many districts.”

So far, only interstate movement of essential commodities has been allowed, while migrant workers could travel to their workplaces within city limits if they showed no symptoms for coronavirus.

Wednesday’s guidelines says all stranded people can return to their home towns after undergoing strict medical screening both at the source and destination cities. States must also organize thermal testing units and quarantine facilities for all those who are stranded, in order to clear asymptomatic cases, before sending them back. However, the movement of migrants, tourists and students will be restricted to non-containment zones.

States must arrange for sanitized buses for transportation, it said.

The decision comes just two days after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief ministers, wherein the issue of stranded migrant labourers and students was discussed. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, states where large numbers of migrants come from, had requested that they be allowed to return home. The Odisha government said that the Centre must set standard operating procedures (SOP) for people who are returning.

“Due to lockdown migrant workers, pilgrims, students, tourists and other persons are stranded at different places,” Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla said in a letter to states. “All states should designate nodal authorities and develop standard protocols for receiving and sending stranded people.”

State governments, who have kept a strict vigil at borders, allowing movement of only essential services, will now coordinate with each other to ensure safe passage to the hundreds of thousands stranded across the country.

The sending and receiving states must agree to movement by road only after the people are screened and found to be asymptomatic, the Centre said, adding that states must also organize thoroughly sanitized buses.

“On arrival at their destination, such persons would be screened by local health authorities, and kept in home quarantine unless the assessment requires keeping the person in institutional quarantine,” Bhalla said, reiterating that “they will be kept under watch with periodic health check-ups”.

The home ministry’s move is a major step towards easing the lockdown, even as states continue to demand an extension beyond 3 May.

Though states have permitted certain activities following the revised guidelines issued by the Union home ministry on 15 April for a staggered lifting of the lockdown, the opposition said the Centre should broaden the scope of transportation.

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Governor Satya Pal Malik had  lifted the restriction on entry of tourists after holding a security review meeting. The government had asked the tourists to curtail their stay in the Valley “immediately” soon after it took the step to call off the annual Amarnath Yatra on August 2. Then the Parliament effectively scrapped Article 370 of the Constitution that given special status to the state, and divided it into two union territories.

The administration had also imposed restrictions on movement, snapped phone and telephone lines, arrested the state’s political class and deployed more troops to prevent any backlash to the controversial move.

Tourist operators had told the media in late August they were badly hit by the sharp drop-off in visitor numbers, and were worried many people would stay away for a prolonged period.

More than half a million people visited the valley in the first seven months of this year, according to official data. In addition, some 340,000 religious tourists were also visiting the valley in July before their pilgrimage was called off due to the terror claims. Just 150 foreign travellers visited Kashmir after August 5, the figures showed.

The measure to lift the travel ban, however, has been called half-hearted by critics, with many pointing out that hardly anyone would want to visit till the communication blackout persists.

Over the last one week, the administration has taken some steps to test the uneasy calm in the state as it has come under increasing international scrutiny for the prolonged clampdown .

On Wednesday, the administration re-opened higher secondary schools, colleges and universities. In Srinagar, security forces were stationed outside the prestigious Sri Pratap College and were allowing students on the campus after checking their identity cards.

The administration will also release three political detainees on Thursday after making them sign a bond, promising “good behaviour”. ​

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