COVID- 19: Rs. 40 cr released to DCs to fight corona spread, CS chairs high level meet

Jammu: In order to further strengthen and upscale the offensive against COVID-19 spread, the Government Monday ordered release of Rs. 40 crore additionally to all Deputy Commissioners to support their corona mitigation efforts. This was decided in a high level meeting here Monday.The meeting was chaired by Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam.
Principal Secretary, Home, Shaleen Kabra; Principal Secretary, Housing & Urban Development, Dheeraj Gupta; Principal Secretary, Planning & Development & Information, Rohit Kansal; Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Sanjeev Verma; Inspector General, Jammu zone Mukesh Singh; Secretary, PDD, M Raju; Secretary, DMRR, Simrandeep Singh and other senior officers were present in the meeting.
Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, P. K. Pole; IGP, Kashmir zone, Vijay Kumar and senior officers of Kashmir province attended the meeting through video conferencing.
The meeting also decided to release Rs One crore to the Jal Shakti (PHE) Department to augment drinking water supply in the Jammu and Kashmir. The Jammu and Srinagar Municipal Corporations, it was decided, would also be released additional Rs. 50 lakh each to augment their sanitation efforts. Other Municipal Committees of the J&K would also be released additional funds accordingly, it was also decided.
In another significant decision, it was decided that interstate borders with Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh UT would be fully sealed. Similarly inter district movement of vehicles would also be restricted as per requirement. However, all essential vehicles would ply normally and the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway would also be regulated.
Taking a very serious note of reports of some travellors skipping screening and self-declaration at arrival points or falsifying any information regarding their travel, the Chief Secretary directed strict checking at entry points of Qazigund and Lower Munda besides at other entry points, airports and bus stands. Action, he said, should be initiated against those putting others at risk.
The meeting also decided that advance ration for two months viz. April and May would be issued to all eligible consumers. Besides, one month’s ration for Mid-Day Meals would also be given in advance to all parents of eligible children.
The Chief Secretary also directed to keep all treasuries in Jammu & Kashmir open to facilitate drawal of bills in view of the closure of financial year.