Telangana handling Covid-19 much better than other States, says Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan

HYDERABAD:  After blowing hot at the State government for its unsatisfactory response to Covid-19 challenge, Telanana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, on Friday blew cold, exuding confidence in government’s ability to deal with the pandemic. “When compared to other States such as Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, Telangana is doing much better,” she said. 

Soundarajan, who was addressing the media to announce that Raj Bhavan functions will be taken up through the paperless route to further environment-friendly practices, said, “In some districts number of cases are declining. There are a large number of patients who are recovering. The recovery rate is more in Telangana and it has peaked out in some of the districts.” 

She added, “Compared to other States such as Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, Telangana is doing far better. The government has definitely taken up some concrete measures.” Soundarajan, who is also a medical professional, said that she had earlier suggested some measures to the State government for tackling the pandemic and some of those recommendations have been implemented by the latter. However, she urged citizens to be cautious and wear masks all the time. “Re-infection is possible. Susceptibility is more,” she said and urged the government to ‘test, trace, treat and teach’ to avoid cases of re-infection. She also asked political parties, whom she said were ‘not following social distancing’, to become role models for citizens. 

On the matter of online classes for schoolchildren and the gap in accessibility to technology for tribal students, the Governor said that she was concerned. “People living in tribal areas should not be left out,” she said. The Raj Bhavan from Friday launched its e-office programme for communicating with the State government and citizens. Soundarajan said that since the onset of the pandemic, physical interaction with citizens had decreased and instead there had been an emphasis on digital mode of communication. So when the State government adopted its e-office programme, the governor also felt that its office should adopt the same, she added. 

“This paperless administration will lead to reduction in cutting down of trees and thereby help mother nature,” she said and added that the National Informatics Centre (NIC) experts would train office personnel on the e-office application. She launched the portal by sending the monthly Telangana report electronically to President Ramnath Kovind, which she said earlier would have taken weeks to reach Delhi.