Kohima, Aug 7 (PTI) In the wake of a spurt in COVID-19 cases among jawans posted in Nagaland, authorities of various paramilitary and armed forces have assured the state government they will reschedule the return of their personnel from leave in a staggered manner till September, a senior official said on Friday.

Of the 2,580 COVID-19 cases reported in Nagaland till Thursday, 1,117 are personnel of the Army, BSF, CRPF and Assam Rifles.

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"We are not imposing any restriction, but they (authorities of the security forces) themselves have decided at their level to reschedule the return of their personnel," Principal Secretary (Home) Abhijit Sinha told PTI.

"It has to be done in a calibrated manner. No order has been issued in this regard but the matter was discussed during a meeting of Home Department officials with authorities of the security forces on Thursday," Sinha added.

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As so many jawans posted in Nagaland have tested positive for COVID-19, they want to manage the situation in such a way that their personnel return from leave only when there is space for quarantining them, he said.

"During the meeting, Assam Rifles authorities assured the state government to manage the COVID-19 situation by planning the return of the jawans from leave in a staggered manner till September," Lt. Col L Vincent Patton, PRO of the Inspector General of the Assam Rifles (North), told PTI.

Though no notification was issued in this regard, it is a "goodwill commitment" of the Assam Rifles to streamline the leave and return of the personnel while disallowing mass return to avoid piling of cases, he said.

"It is not about restricting anyone's return, but about managing their return in a staggered manner and discouraging mass return," Lt. Col Patton said.

Lt. Col Sumit Kumar Sharma, PRO (Defence), Kohima, said Army and paramilitary forces are managing their own quarantine centres while tests are being conducted at state- owned laboratories.

"However, with constraints of space to accommodate more returnees, it has been decided to call back the personnel on leave in a staggered manner only after those already in quarantine complete the requisite period," he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)