SHILLONG: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has informed that the state government has spent over Rs 200 crore in the last nine months to fight the COVID-19 pandemic which has strained the finances of the state, forcing the government to explore ways to reduce expenditures.
Speaking to reporters here on Friday after a review meeting called by the Speaker, Metbah Lyngdoh, Sangma sounded optimistic in the face of grim financial situation saying that the government would work on improving the system.
“COVID fight has put a lot of financial burden on the state and it requires the system to work continuously. There is financial involvement and it is something that we cannot escape because it requires a lot of work to be done but we will look into reducing expenditures”, he added.
He cited an instance that the state had not charged anything for conducting tests unlike in other states and as such it needed to be examined closely as there are pros and cons involved.
Responding to allegations of mismanagement by the members of the opposition recently, he said that the shortcomings in dealing with COVID-19 were discussed at the meeting.
He admitted that there may have been slips in managing the situation owning to fatigue but said that the overall management and the numbers of steps, measures taken including registration, closing of gates despite Central government messages reflects that the state government have gone an extra mile to fight this.
“In nine months, a lot of government officials have been involved in fighting this, and could be an element of fatigue among the individuals and system. There could have been situations where there could be slips”, he said.
“Is there a perfect system? Most probably not but I think it is important to keep improving on it and look at what is the possible outcomes and try to work on it and improving health infrastructure”, he added.
“It is not just a fight involving the government or the MLAs but it is a fight where the society has to come together and I think it is only when people and society start responding and start following the basic protocols of social distancing, mask wearing, hand sanitisation, I think we will see that we will fight this to a large extent”, he said.
Stating that the government will do its best, he said that there are lots of suggestions that emanated from the members and will incorporate the suggestion as far as possible and include the overall delivery mechanism to fight the particular virus.