Sarpanch wins Odisha CM's praise for shutdown

BERHAMPUR: The chief minister’s office on Monday praised the sarpanch of Manitara in Ganjam district’s Buguda block for declaring a total shutdown of the panchayat for 20 hours in a day to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Two more sarapanchs of Madhupalli and Mandara in Polasara block in the district followed suit by declaring a similar shutdown from Sunday.
By exercising the power of district collectors vested in the panchayat heads by the state government, Manitara sarapanch Shantilata Nayak announced a total shutdown of her panchayat from 11am to 7am the next day from May 8. All the non-essential goods and services shops remained closed during the period, while people were asked to remain at home. This will continue till the end of the third phase of the nationwide lockdown on May 17.
“This step was taken to prevent people put up in the quarantine centres from coming out and also to stop villagers from visiting these places,” the 75-year-old sarpanch said. She added that this will help maintain social distancing.
At least two officers from the state visited the panchayat on Sunday to assess the situation.
“The timely steps taken by the sarapanch is praiseworthy. She has truly implemented the historic move of chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who has delegated the powers of the district collector to the sarpanchs,” the chief minister’s office said in a tweet.
Last month, the chief minister had delegated the powers of the district collectors to the sarapanchs in their respective jurisdiction to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. The state government delegated the powers to them under Section 51 of the Disaster Management Act 2005, the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 read with Odisha Covid-19 Regulations-2020.
Meanwhile, the sarapanchs of Madhupalli and Mandara have declared a shutdown of their panchaayts from 12 noon to 7am the next day. During the period, all the non-essential service shops will remain closed. “We have taken this step to maintain social distancing in a bid to fight Covid-19,” Kali Charan Nayak, the sarpanch of Mandara, said. Similar views were also expressed by the sarpanch of Madhupalli, Kasturi Karana.