In order to further strengthen and upscale the offensiveagainst COVID-19 spread, the Government today ordered release of Rs. 40 croreadditionally to all Deputy Commissioners to support their corona mitigationefforts.
This was decided in a high level meeting here today.
The meeting was chaired by Chief Secretary, B V RSubrahmanyam.
Principal Secretary, Home, Shaleen Kabra; PrincipalSecretary, Housing & Urban Development, Dheeraj Gupta; Principal Secretary,Planning & Development & Information, Rohit Kansal; DivisionalCommissioner, Jammu, Sanjeev Verma; Inspector General, Jammu zone Mukesh Singh;Secretary, PDD, M Raju; Secretary, DMRR, Simrandeep Singh and other seniorofficers were present in the meeting.
Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, P. K. Pole; IGP, Kashmirzone, Vijay Kumar and senior officers of Kashmir province attended the meetingthrough video conferencing.
The meeting also decided to release Rs One crore to the JalShakti (PHE) Department to augment drinking water supply in the Jammu andKashmir. The Jammu and Srinagar Municipal Corporations, it was decided, wouldalso be released additional Rs. 50 lakh each to augment their sanitationefforts. Other Municipal Committees of the J&K would also be releasedadditional funds accordingly, it was also decided.
In another significant decision, it was decided thatinterstate borders with Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh UT would be fullysealed. Similarly inter district movement of vehicles would also be restrictedas per requirement. However, all essential vehicles would ply normally and theJammu-Srinagar National Highway would also be regulated.
Taking a very serious note of reports of some travellorsskipping screening and self-declaration at arrival points or falsifying anyinformation regarding their travel, the Chief Secretary directed strictchecking at entry points of Qazigund and Lower Munda besides at other entrypoints, airports and bus stands. Action, he said, should be initiated againstthose putting others at risk.
The meeting also decided that advance ration for two monthsviz. April and May would be issued to all eligible consumers. Besides, onemonth’s ration for Mid-Day Meals would also be given in advance to all parentsof eligible children.
The Chief Secretary also directed to keep all treasuries inJammu & Kashmir open to facilitate drawal of bills in view of the closureof financial year.