Calls for establishment of CCCs at Panchayat level, continuation of wage employment schemes amid SOPs

ANANTNAG: Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Baseer Ahmad Khan, today visited Bijbihara town of Anantnag district and held a meeting with public representatives, delegations, other stakeholders and officers of district administration to review Covid mitigation measures in place in the region.

The meeting was attended by DDC Chairman, Anantnag, Mohammad Yousuf Gorsi, Deputy Commissioner, Dr. Piyush Singla, Principal GMC Anantnag, ADC (G), members of DDCs and BDCs, SDM Bijbihara, CMO, CAO and representatives of traders, transporters, religious leaders and civil society members.

During the meeting, Advisor assessed the status of medical infrastructure and facilities, vaccination and functioning of tele-medication. He had threadbare discussion with all the participants who put forth their feedback and suggestions regarding the issues of concern in the wake of Covid pandemic.

Advisor said that the main objective of his visit was to have first hand interaction with all stakeholders besides getting feedback about arrangements and welfare measures being made by the local administration during this second wave of COVID. He reviewed the directions given during the last meeting held at the district head quarters and was informed that there has been a lot of progress on all fronts in the mitigation efforts.

Advisor said the fight against COVID-19 has to be a collective and coordinated effort from administration and general public. This coordination has already started showing results on ground, however, he sought further cooperation from all stakeholders at all levels in order to tackle the pandemic effectively. “The efforts of the government need to be complemented with the cooperation from all stakeholders like Traders, Hoteliers, transporters, civil society members  and  religious leaders”, the Advisor remarked.

Emphasizing the role of religious heads and PRIs in Corona mitigation efforts, Khan said they have a big responsibility of disseminating factual information regarding SOPs, vaccination and related measures among the people. He added that the masses should be educated properly regarding various aspects of the pandemic and right information is the key to the fight against this deadly disease.

Advisor informed that there is no shortage of oxygen, vaccines, drugs or other medical infrastructure and people should not pay any heed to the misinformation.

Advisor said that the tele-medication facilities are helping greatly towards resolving medical issues of the patients from their homes and this concept will go a long way in establishing a viable tele- consultation mechanism in the UT.

Stressing on the importance of vaccination, Advisor said supply side has been streamlined and directed the authorities for aggressively pursuing the vaccination programme to inoculate maximum eligible population. “The targeted vaccination drive for high risk and vulnerable groups will further bring down the infections in high contact/exposure areas,” he highlighted.

Khan directed the Deputy Commissioner to strictly enforce the lockdown measures and guidelines issued regularly by the government along with restrictions in locally notified containment zones. He called for continuation of wage employment activities, agriculture practices, construction work etc besides the smooth supply of all essential and basic items/services to the people of containment zones amid full observance of Covid SOPs and guidelines adding the government is taking calibrated steps of saving lives and livelihoods together.

Advisor hailed the cooperation and support of general public and appreciated them for following the guidelines in letter and spirit besides exhibiting responsible civic behavior during this hour of unprecedented nature. He reiterated that strict adherence to SOPs and guidelines are very vital for supplementing the sincere efforts and resilience of all covid-19 warriors against this pandemic.

Deputy Commissioner briefed the Advisor about the Covid mitigation and public welfare measures being taken up by the administration besides highlighting the achievements made so far. He said that a 24×7 helpline is functional and all Covid and non Covid grievances received are being addressed promptly besides a team of dedicated doctors attend the calls and give consultations over the phone which has reduced the influx of patients to the healthcare centres. He informed the vaccination process is going on smoothly both for above 45 and 18 to 45 targeted groups.

Dr. Singla further informed the Advisor that 5 bedded CCCs with all basic minimum facilities are being established in the Panchayats of the district. He also informed that 589432 beneficiaries have received free ration under PMGKY while as 30081 registered construction workers got a total assistance of Rs. 30081000/=(Rs.1000 to each worker) as part of Covid relief and welfare measures.

The visiting delegations of the traders and transporters and religious leaders discussed various issues with the Advisor.

Advisor assured them that all the genuine issues shall be taken to the logical end. He directed the Rural Development Department to prepare the plan under convergence to address the issue of flash floods which was highlighted by the delegations. He also asked the irrigation department to expedite the work on irrigation canals which serve as main supply of water to the crops in the ensuing season.

Advisor addressing the concern of Bhang cultivation highlighted by the delegations directed the police and administration to have strict enforcement in place.

By: Tasaduq Hussain

Kupwara: At least 84 inmates at the district jail Kupwara have tested positive for the Covid-19 virus so far and six are stated to have recovered while the officials claimed that all the required facilities including proper isolation have been ensured.

Officials said that 20 cases were detected earlier, while 64 more inmates tested positive on Thursday.

Talking to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) District Jail Kupwara Shahbaz Hussain said that a total of 270 inmates, only men are lodged there and all the facilities required for positive patients have been ensured.

“A total of 20 inmates had tested positive earlier of which six have recovered while 64 more tested positive today (Thursday),” he said. He maintained that all the required facilities are available for the positive patients besides the medical team comes to the jail premises for tests while a separate block has been prepared for patients.

Ghulam Nabi Sheikh Nodal Officer for Covid-19 said that a total of 84 jail inmates have tested positive for the novel coronavirus at district jail Kupwara till Thursday.

He said that the tests of all the jail inmates are done within the premises and positive cases are immediately isolated to the administrative designated facility in a bark adding that a total of 256 RT-PCR tests were conducted on Wednesday.

He said: “I have communicated with the concerned officials at district jail who have assured all the required facilities including proper isolation to inmates for all those who tested positive on Thursday.”

About the earlier 20 positive cases the nodal officer said: “We are expecting all of them to have recovered and In case of any need oxygen is provided with sufficient amount but as of now there is no such exigency while cylinders are available there.”

Sheikh said that all the earlier positive patients will undergo a re-test in a day or two and hopefully, all of them possibly may have recovered.

He informed that sufficient isolation beds have been prepared there besides all the jail inmates were made to undergo the Covid-19 test.

An official at the Covid control room said that samples under Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) were collected from the jail inmates on May 16 and the repeated RT-PCR test was done on May 24 in which all the 20 positive patients were detected positive again.

He said that no report of any jail inmate is awaited since results are received regularly on a daily basis.

Notably, till Wednesday, Kupwara district had alone reported a total of 11131 cases of which 9160 have recovered taking active positive cases to 1833 and 138 have died due to the virus—(KNO)