Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said the government is weighing which sectors can be opened without upsetting the State’s attempt to rein in the surge in COVID-19 infections.
When pressed, Mr. Vijayan said it was early to predict the end of lockdown. “We have few more days to decide,” he said here on Wednesday.
The State’s priority was to retard the pace of the pandemic. A tangible reduction in the disease transmission rate and an uptick in the number of persons cured of the disease were positive indications. However, hospital admissions remained worryingly high. ICU beds and ventilators were still in high demand, Mr. Vijayan said.
He said coir mills could open for production. Stores selling fertilisers and pesticides could do business on a week day. Fishing harbours and landing centres had started functioning. The police had formed a plainclothes squad to detect overpricing of medical implements and COVID-19 material, including oximeters.
The Chief Minister had chaired an online meeting of department heads. The meeting decided to expedite the processing of official files. It would soon set a limit on how many officials should examine a file and how long they could hold on to it.
Mr. Vijayan said the government would adopt a drastically new approach to file processing to avoid creating more red tape. The Chief Secretary would finalise the new protocol. The government would encourage officials to take independent and fair decisions fast. However, it would not tolerate corruption.
He said the bureaucracy should guard against leaking of information on files to vested interest. It should ensure the sanctity of classified and secret files. Administrators should only entertain requests for information that come via the RTI route.
The government would review the reporting of retirement and promotion vacancies to the Public Service Commission (PSC). The government had prioritised eradicating extreme poverty.
It would ensure that citizens received various services at their doorstep. It would soon declare entitlement to prompt government service an inalienable right. The administration would forge ahead with mega projects such as semi-highspeed rail, Kochi-Bangalore and Ernakulam-Mangalore industrial corridors. He said the proposed coastal and hill highway networks would usher in an era of unprecedented economic development.
He said curbing coastal erosion and building climate change-resistant infrastructure were other priorities. The government also announced a new system to ensure that the State received its due share from the Centre. It would publish a progress card on its performance annually.
At least 50% of Secretariat employees should report for duty from May 31, given the Assembly session. The government had included civil supplies, legal metrology, government press, school textbook publishers and passport office staff in the priority category for vaccination.
The Cabinet approved the Governor's policy address.
