Chandigarh, April 15 - Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that due to increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the country and the state, we have to take strict precautions. Last year, economic activity had stalled due to the lockdown, which took about six months to get back on track. Therefore, we have to keep in mind that the economic cycle should continue in the state and that no one is adversely affected as well.
Sh. Manohar Lal was presiding over a meeting called to review COVID-19 cases and vaccinations in Haryana today. Haryana Deputy Chief Minister, Sh. Dushyant Chautala was also present during the meeting while Haryana Health and Home Minister, Sh. Anil Vij joined through video conferencing.
The Chief Minister said that we also have to keep in mind as to what is unavoidable and what can be avoided. He said that this time the spread of COVID-19 has started from educational institutions, so there is a need to be more vigilant, especially there. We also need to reduce crowding in public gatherings etc. Therefore, it has been decided that from now on, not more than 200 people can to gather in open spaces during public functions and not more than 50 in indoor functions. Similarly, no more than 20 people will be able to attend funerals. He directed all the Deputy Commissioners to issue advisory in their respective districts to ensure that night-time ceremonies should be shifted to the day time and the Navratra programmes should also be held during the day.
Sh. Manohar Lal said that it is the constitutional right of every person to protest and we have no problem with those who protest. However, at this time, due to COVID-19, life may be put in danger, so this is not the right time to protest. The Chief Minister appealed to the farmers that they should withdraw their movement on humanitarian grounds. If they have to hold or protest for any of their demands, they can do it when the situation improves. He also directed the Deputy Commissioners to contact the agitating farmers and try to persuade them. He appealed to the people of the state to only leave their homes whenever necessary and to wear masks, use sanitizer and maintain social distancing whenever they go out of the house. He said that there is proper arrangement of oxygen, ventilators and beds in the state. So people need not panic.
The Chief Minister said that during a meeting held with the Governors of various states yesterday, Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi has spoken about activating the Red Cross. Similarly, we should also include volunteers, ex-servicemen and Saksham Yuva in the task of dealing with COVID-19. He said that the Prime Minister has talked about taking contact tracing to 30. Recently, due to the way the speed of the COVID-19 has increased, contact tracing is extremely important. The district administration should plan at its level to deal with the situation and also make an appeal to the people regarding the same because often the appeal has more effect than strictness. He directed the officers that all the meetings should be held online or through webinars so that the movement of people can be reduced.
Sh. Manohar Lal said that procurement process is underway. Therefore, the number of procurement centres should be increased so that the crop is procured at the earliest and crowds do not collect in the mandis. He directed the Deputy Commissioners to establish procurement centres in rice mills, schools and sheds etc. for the next 10-12 days. The Chief Minister said that lifting is decreasing in many districts. He gave strict directions to the Deputy Commissioners of Sonipat, Panipat, Hisar, Jind, Sirsa, Dadri, Fatehabad, Gurugram and Palwal districts and said that rain is expected on the coming Saturday, so the lifting should be done as soon as possible so that there should not be any loss to farmers, arthiyas or the government.
Haryana Home and Health Minister, Sh. Anil Vij said that there are two ways to prevent COVID-19 from spreading. The first method is lockdown and the second is strictness, he added. We want the situation to be dealt with strictness instead of imposing lockdown in the state. He said that we can withstand resentment of people by acting strictly but cannot see people dying. This time COVID-19 is more aggressive. Last year the number of cases increased gradually, but this time it is a matter of serious concern that about five and a half thousand cases are reported in a single day. So we have to create containment and micro containment zones. He said that beds can also be installed in schools, Dharamshalas if needed.
He said that regular monitoring should be made by the Deputy Commissioner Monitoring Committee. Expressing concern over the black marketing of Remdesivir, he said that for this, checking should be done by deploying drugs teams to catch them. He directed that people living in home isolation must be checked atleast once in two days at home. For this, an app has been created.
The meeting was attended by Haryana Chief Secretary, Sh. Vijai Vardhan, Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. DS Dhesi, Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Sh. Sanjeev Kaushal, Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Local Bodies Department, Sh. SN Roy, Additional Chief Secretary, Health Department, Sh. Rajiv Arora, Additional Chief Secretary, School Education Department, Sh. Mahavir Singh, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. V. Umashankar, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and Director General, Information, Public Relations and Language Department, Dr. Amit Agrawal, Deputy Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Smt. Ashima Brar and Director General, Development & Panchayats Department, Sh. RC Bidhan. Deputy Commissioners and Civil Surgeons of all the districts joined the meeting through video conferencing.