Bhubaneswar: The state government will start a house-to-house survey beginning May 24 to detect Covid symptoms and co-morbid conditions of people in the state.
Speaking at an all-party meet, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, “A three-month house-to-house survey (for Covid symptoms and co-morbid conditions) by ASHAs and Anganwadi workers will be launched beginning May 24, for which they will be given an additional incentive of `1,000 per month.”
Stating that community involvement has been one of the main pillars of the state’s Covid management, he said Gram Panchayats, Gaon Kalyan Samitis and sarpanchs have been involved since the beginning. Grassroot workers like ANMs, ASHAs, Anganwadi workers and organisations like Mission Shakti have been utilised for providing services to people.
The CM announced that `10,000 per GKS will be sanctioned for undertaking Covid related activities at village level involving communities. There are 46,106 GKSs in the state. As ASHAs monitor home isolation cases, the government will provide one-time assistance of `10,000 to each of them for procurement of bicycles, cupboards, slippers, umbrellas and torches, he said.
Announcing free education for children who lost their family members during the pandemic, the CM said, “Covid has devastated many families in the state. We intend to provide a healing touch to such Covid-hit families by continuing to cover the widows and orphans under the Madhubabu Pension Yojana.”
He said the government will allow expenditure of up to `50 lakhs from MLALADS for assisting in activities related to Covid management including procurement of masks from Mission Shakti groups. The CM appealed to MLAs to educate people to follow Covid appropriate behaviour.
“We are already in the midst of the second wave. We don’t know how many more waves or variants we will have to face. We imposed the lockdown to slow down the current wave. However, lockdowns cannot be the solution as it seriously hurts many livelihoods. It’s a long fight and we have to prepare our people through awareness,” Patnaik told the members.
Naveen said health care facilities in the state have been quickly ramped up and a large number of ICU/HDU beds have been established this time, compared to the first Covid wave. Similarly, oxygen cylinder equipped beds have been established across districts.
“To ensure error-free medical oxygen supply, we are closely monitoring the huge logistics involved in deploying, refilling and transporting oxygen cylinders in time. We are establishing oxygen plants within main hospitals. We are importing a large number of oxygen cylinders since there is a short supply in the country. We are ensuring sufficiency in terms of oxygen and critical medicines,” the CM said. He said a taskforce will be formed to look after oxygen management and prepare a master plan for the state. Moreover, the state government has already recruited 786 doctors and 5,137 paramedics and is in the process of contractual recruitment of more medical personnel.
The adage that “Every life is precious” would continue to be our guiding principle and the state government will leave no stone unturned in saving the lives of people,” he assured the MLAs.
Opposition party members put forth their suggestions at the meeting. BJP deputy leader in house, Bishnu Sethi said, “The government wants to manage the crisis at administrative level. Therefore, we have suggested to form Covid crisis management committees at panchayat level.” Sethi said they have also urged the government to enhance oxygen, ICU and ventilator beds across the state.
Congress legislative party leader Narasingha Mishra termed the meeting a PR activity of the government as the government did not listen to many members. As the workers and daily labourers are suffering a lot due to lockdown and shutdown, the government should provide `6,000 assistance per month to them, he said.
Senior Congress MLA Suresh Routray expressed displeasure over not being allowed to speak during the meeting. Opposition chief whip Mohan Majhi too criticized the government claiming that the government has failed to manage the crisis. While the second wave is coming to an end, the government has been unable to open helpdesk for people, he added.
