The Andhra Pradesh government has come up with an attractive incentive to retain migrant workers and other poor people held up in various quarantine camps on account of the lockdown with many of them desperate to return to their native villages.

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday suggested that migrant workers who stay back in the camps till the lockdown is lifted be given a financial assistance of Rs 2,000 each while leaving the camps after completing their quarantine.

The amount would be useful to migrant workers to reach their homes after the quarantine period and have proper food. “This will encourage the migrant workers to stay put in the quarantine camps till the lockdown is lifted,” an official familiar with the development said.

In several parts of the state, people who have been kept in quarantine camps have been leaving by foot to reach their native places, after the extension of the lockdown till May 3.

The chief minister sought details on the facilities being provided at quarantine centres. He suggested that the poor people held up at the centres should be given nutritious food like milk, vegetables, and eggs.

The officials informed the chief minister that an amount of Rs 850 had been spent on each person put up at the quarantine centre, including Rs 500 for food, bed and blanket, Rs 50 on sanitation facilities and Rs 300 on transportation. A double room or single room is being provided to the people in quarantine and they are being sent home after following medical protocol, officials said.

They said all the quarantined people were being provided healthy food, aimed at improving their immunity, including dry fruits, citrus fruits, eggs and banana, apart from regular meals like rice, dal, sambar and curd.