Principal Secretary, Planning, Development & Monitoring Department, Rohit Kansal, who is also the J&K Govt Spokesperson, today said that the administration is closely monitoring and reviewing the situation and proactively taking a number of steps to combat COVID-19 pandemic.
He appealed the people to report travel history andcooperate with the government in breaking the chain of the transmission.
In an online briefing with the media persons, he said thatpublic cooperation is of critical importance in breaking the chain of transmission.Director Information & PR, Dr. Syed Sehrish Asgar and Mission DirectorNHM Bhupinder Kumar were also presentduring the occasion.
He said that like in the rest of the country Jammu andKashmir too has seen a spurt of cases in the last week or so.
“Our teams have been consistently and aggressively trying totrace out the contacts and test them. This will cause some inconvenience andthis is where we need support and cooperation of the public. He further saidthat tracing out contacts and testing them is of critical importance inbreaking the chain of transmission.
Giving further details, he said, “We have found out that 11of the positive cases in Kashmir division could be traced to a single religiouscongregation. Another 6 cases could be traced to another group which hadtravelled to Saudi Arabia. We are also getting reports that one of the positivepatients had suppressed his travel history to Dubai. This is extremelydangerous for the family, the community and finally the entire UT,” and appealedthe people not to hide travel historyand self report and cooperate with the government.
“While we have been aggressively tracing out contacts, wehave also been reviewing our capacities and facilities. We now have anadministrative quarantine facility of over 35000 beds in Jammu (6500), Srinagar(10000) and individual districts (1000 each) spread over large locations,” headded.
He further informed that the government has identified andearmarked 11 hospitals, 8 in Kashmir and 3 in Jammu division as exclusive COVIDhospitals and as a result the government have earmarked 2400 treatment beds-1300 in Kashmir and 1100 in Jammu for the purpose. “We are also preparing toupgrade capacity to include 1000 more quarantine beds. On the request of themedical fraternity, the health department has also made arrangements for hotelsboth in Jammu and Kashmir for exclusive use of medical professionals engaged intreatment,” he added.
He said that the Health department is also engaged inprocurement of all required material and equipment including masks, PersonalProtection Equipments (PPEs) and ventilators.
Kansal also listed the steps taken in order to alleviate thedifficulties being faced by the people in the emerging situation.
“The administrative council has already met under thechairmanship of the Lt Governor and announced a series of steps to alleviatethe problems of the people, especially the poor and the destitute. Theseinclude immediate release of Rs 1000 each to workers registered with Building& Other Construction Workers Welfare Board for purchase of one month’sadvance ration under Mid-Day meal, release of two installments of old age,disability and family pension to all the 7.7 lakh pensioners and additionalcoverage of all 1.7 lakh pending cases,” he informed.
He further said, “To help the destitute, slum dwellers andmigrant labour, ration packets containing essential edibles are being preparedand supplied through the DCs and urban local bodies. In addition, Rs 50 crorehas been released to supplement already for the containment of COVID-19 to thedistricts, PHE department, ULBs for quarantine facilities.
“The administration is also fully geared up to implement allthe welfare measures announced under the PRADHAN MANTRI GARIB KALYAN PACKAGE. Distributionof ration both the normal ration and free ration as provided under PMGKAY hasalready been started. Preparations for implementing other components are alsobeing finalized,” he added.
He also mentioned that the supply lines of essential commoditiesincluding drugs are fully in place. There is no shortage of any kind ofessential commodity in procurement level and facilitation passes have beenissued in this regard. He therefore urged general public not to hoard any sortof commodity and avoid panic.
He said that the Resident Commission in Delhi hasestablished a dedicated 24X7 helpline centre to assist students, patients orany other residents of J&K facing difficulties due to the lockdown. Thenumbers are 011-24611210, 2461108 and 24615475.
For the assistance of the labourers and residents of UTresiding in different parts of the country, the administration is starting adedicated labour helpline; an appeal has been made to all the State governmentsto take care of people from other states. Similarly in J&K, theadministration is taking caring measures of all such people who may happen tobe residing in the UT of J&K.
An appeal has also been made to all the religious leaders,for instance the grand Mufti of Srinagar has made an appeal regarding holdingprayers at home. He also urged to maintain social distances and stay at homebesides follow all the advisories issued from time to time to win this battle.
“These are extraordinary times. We are grateful that we aregetting unprecedented understanding and cooperation from the people at large.We would like to reassure the people that the entire administrative machineryis constantly and closely monitoring the situation and taking all necessarysteps,” he reiterated.
He further solicits the support of everyone in reportingcases, following advisories and in cooperating with the administration eventhough it may be uncomfortable at times.
Information Dept holds on-phone press conference
To encourage the practice of physical distancing, PrincipalSecretary Rohit Kansal, who is also the Government Spokesperson, todayinteracted with the media persons using Social Networking platform. He alsoheld telephonic conversation with media fraternity and responded to theirqueries with regard to Government efforts in controlling spread of Covid-19.
Large number of media persons raised their queries onefforts and measures being taken by the UT Government for prevention,containment and management of coronavirus which were responded in detail byPrincipal Secretary.
Meanwhile, the media persons hailed this initiative of theGovernment for sharing all relevant information with them while maintainingphysical distancing.Rohit Kansal further appealed the media personsto believe only on authentic information being provided by the Government ondaily basis and in case of any query, they may contact the officers directlyassociated with the coronavirus efforts in the Union Territory.