NEW DELHI: To help them during the nationwide lockdown, Delhi government will start distributing free foodgrain from Tuesday to around 10 lakh people who had applied for ration cards but haven’t yet got them. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Monday that the rations will be distributed at 421 government schools. The state government is also likely to procure one lakh Covid-19 testing kits by Friday to substantially enhance testing for the novel coronavirus in the capital.
Free rations will be distributed to around six lakh whose approval for ration card applications is pending and four lakh who had recently applied on the state government website for ration facilities. They will be given their allocations at government schools. These numbers are in addition to the 71 lakh beneficiaries under 19 lakh ration cards, who are already getting 7.5kg of free grains from over 2,000 fair price shops in Delhi.
The applicants have been issued e-cards indicating the name of the school from where to collect their allotment. “Each individual is entitled to 4 kg wheat and 1 kg rice. We initially arranged rations for around 10 lakh people, but we will procure more from the central government if needed,” the CM said.
Kejriwal also updated the infection situation, saying 20 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours and an overall 523 Covid-19 cases in Delhi. Of the new cases, 10 originated in the Tablighi Jamaat meeting. In fact, 330 of the city’s cases were related to the Jamaat, while 61 were of people who had travelled abroad. Seven people have died, one of them in the last 24 hours. There are 25 people in ICU, 8 on ventilators, while the rest are in stable condition.
Kejriwal said the reasons behind the sudden rise in corona-positive cases in Delhi could be attributed to the Jamaat conference and to increased testing across the city. “More tests will ensure more infected people are identified, quarantined and treated so that the virus does not get transmitted to other people,” Kejriwal said, adding this would enable the capital to contain the spread of the virus.
"Around March 25, our testing capacity was for 125 people daily. It increased to 500 people per day after April 1, and is now capable of 1,000 tests per day. We have given orders for one lakh testing kits, which we expect by Friday,” Kejriwal said.
Expecting the distribution of free foodgrains to large numbers to lead to crowding, Kejriwal appealed to MLAs, MPs, and municipal councillors to ensure that the distribution locations did not get crammed and defeated the objective of social distancing. “I also want to request the people to follow social distancing. I assure you Delhi government will provide rations to everyone,” Kejriwal said.
Lieutenant governor Anil Baijal has issued orders bringing ration distribution under the Essential Services Maintenance Act for six months. This means the ration dealers, who have been demanding release of their commission pending for a couple of months, won't be able to go on protest. The state government has also cancelled the weekly day offs of the dealers and asked them to keep their shops open all seven days of the week to facilitate access to food for the beneficiaries.
Free rations will be distributed to around six lakh whose approval for ration card applications is pending and four lakh who had recently applied on the state government website for ration facilities. They will be given their allocations at government schools. These numbers are in addition to the 71 lakh beneficiaries under 19 lakh ration cards, who are already getting 7.5kg of free grains from over 2,000 fair price shops in Delhi.
The applicants have been issued e-cards indicating the name of the school from where to collect their allotment. “Each individual is entitled to 4 kg wheat and 1 kg rice. We initially arranged rations for around 10 lakh people, but we will procure more from the central government if needed,” the CM said.
Kejriwal also updated the infection situation, saying 20 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours and an overall 523 Covid-19 cases in Delhi. Of the new cases, 10 originated in the Tablighi Jamaat meeting. In fact, 330 of the city’s cases were related to the Jamaat, while 61 were of people who had travelled abroad. Seven people have died, one of them in the last 24 hours. There are 25 people in ICU, 8 on ventilators, while the rest are in stable condition.
Kejriwal said the reasons behind the sudden rise in corona-positive cases in Delhi could be attributed to the Jamaat conference and to increased testing across the city. “More tests will ensure more infected people are identified, quarantined and treated so that the virus does not get transmitted to other people,” Kejriwal said, adding this would enable the capital to contain the spread of the virus.
"Around March 25, our testing capacity was for 125 people daily. It increased to 500 people per day after April 1, and is now capable of 1,000 tests per day. We have given orders for one lakh testing kits, which we expect by Friday,” Kejriwal said.
Expecting the distribution of free foodgrains to large numbers to lead to crowding, Kejriwal appealed to MLAs, MPs, and municipal councillors to ensure that the distribution locations did not get crammed and defeated the objective of social distancing. “I also want to request the people to follow social distancing. I assure you Delhi government will provide rations to everyone,” Kejriwal said.
Lieutenant governor Anil Baijal has issued orders bringing ration distribution under the Essential Services Maintenance Act for six months. This means the ration dealers, who have been demanding release of their commission pending for a couple of months, won't be able to go on protest. The state government has also cancelled the weekly day offs of the dealers and asked them to keep their shops open all seven days of the week to facilitate access to food for the beneficiaries.
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