Madhya Pradesh CM meets PM Modi, briefs him about efforts to check Covid spread in state

NEW DELHI: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Wednesday and apprised him about the efforts made by the state government so far to check the spread of coronavirus, according to an official statement.

Apart from this, the chief minister gave details of the preparations being made by the state government to deal with a possible third wave of COVID-19, it said.

Chouhan said a public awareness campaign would be launched in the entire state from June 21 for vaccination, in which all state cabinet members, MLAs and MPs would participate to motivate the public to get vaccinated, said the statement issued by the Madhya Pradesh Information Centre here.

The public would be informed that vaccination is the only protective shield to prevent Covid, it said.

He said the Madhya Pradesh government has the capacity to vaccinate 5 lakh people daily and by the end of December, about 70 per cent population of the entire state would be vaccinated, according to the statement.

The chief minister said the central government has taken significant decision by taking the work of coronavirus vaccination in its own hands, which will have far-reaching consequences.

"Prior to this, every state government was adopting different methods for purchasing the vaccine, due to which they did not get favourable results and the work of purchasing the vaccine became lax," the statement said.

"Now, under the leadership of the prime minister, the central government will purchase vaccines for all the states from the market without any discrimination and the people will be vaccinated free after distributing it to all the states," it said.

Chouhan also discussed with the prime minister the issues of farmers such as DAP (Di-ammonium phosphate) fertilizer and fair price to moong growers.

He said the remunerative price for moong would prove to be a boon for the farmers.

Expressing concern over the deteriorating economic condition of the states, Chouhan said the income of the state has come down significantly due to the 'corona curfew'.

He told the prime minister that last year, the states were allowed to take loans to the extent of 5.5 per cent of of GDP.

Chouhan urged that this exemption should be continued in the current year.

It may be noted that the central government has reduced the borrowing limit from 5.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent, the statement said.

The prime minister listened carefully to all the issues raised by the chief minister and assured all possible assistance from the central government on handling of COVID-19 and other issues raised by him, it said.