Mins in favour of lockdown extension to contain virus

Ranchi: Majority of the state cabinet ministers on Monday favoured extension of the ongoing weekly lockdown by at least one more week to sustain the reduced infection rate of Covid-19 and agriculture minister Badal Patralekh asked Soren to announce a three-day complete lockdown from May 26 to 28 to mitigate the impact of Cyclone Yaas.
Soren, who chaired an online meeting of his cabinet members, said he has taken due note of their recommendations and appropriate decisions will be announced soon.
Airing his views, Patralekh said, “While I am on the same page with my cabinet colleagues on the extension of the ongoing lockdown to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, my biggest concern as the agriculture minister is the impact of the Cyclone Yaas on the state's agriculture sector.”
He added, “According to the inputs I have received, the cyclone is likely to leave a devastating effect on the agri sector. Moreover, squalls, thunderstorms and lightning will also create havoc in the state. We have to first prepare to tackle it on an urgent basis. Hence, I am proposing a three-day complete lockdown to avert another disaster of losing lives and livelihood amid the pandemic.”
Soren said he has taken note of the suggestions and informed the ministers that he will soon take a suitable decision after another meeting with his senior officials and experts. On the extension of lockdown, Soren said he is holding brainstorming sessions and a final decision will be taken soon after the sessions.
During the online meeting, water and sanitation minister Mithilesh Thakur along with Patralekh also raised the concerns of farmers and the loss they have suffered during the pandemic. The ministers also sought a special intervention from the government to help the farmers. While Patralekh said the situation is so grim that watermelon and tomato growers are not getting any buyers, Thakur cited how the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has not been sympathetic to the farmers by not paying for the paddy procured from them.
Finance minister Rameshwar Oraon, who also favoured an extension of the lockdown, stressed on providing relaxation for certain sectors. He also urged Soren to give a special focus on rural areas. “Our intervention in rural areas while fighting the second wave of the pandemic is currently lacking steam. Moreover, since we have closed garment shops, people are facing problems in buying shrouds and other clothes required for cremation activities amid the high number of deaths registered daily. As a result, they are being forced to buy the items at exorbitant rates,” he pointed out.
Taking note of Oraon’s suggestions, Soren said the government will soon provide the shrouds free of cost. “The government has already waived off all kinds of charges at cremation sites in the interest of people. Now, we will also give free shrouds (kafan),” he announced.
The chief minister also stressed that the government’s entire focus is now shifting towards the rural areas to tackle the pandemic and a host of initiatives have already been rolled out.
Later in the day, he also launched a rural Covid management task force. Soren said from Wednesday onwards, special door-to-door testing and tracing activities will be kicked off across panchayats by special teams comprising sahiyas, anganwadi sevikas and nurses among others.
“The idea is to monitor the health condition of every villager and take appropriate steps. We are also converting all district and block hospitals into oxygen-supported healthcare facilities. Efforts are also on to provide medical kits to every second household. Only if people are healthy, we can vaccinate them. And to tackle Covid, we have to increase the number of inoculated people,” Soren added.