NEW DELHI: Cash-strapped Meghalaya has made a fervent plea with the Centre for bailing it out of financial trouble.
Health Minister, AL Hek, who is the lone BJP representative in the state cabinet, in making use of his party connection, on Wednesday urged the Prime Minister’s Office to urgently release funds for enabling the state to tackle COVID-19.
In a meeting with Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh, Hek sought monetary help from the PM CARES Fund for the frontline corona warriors, who are fighting the pandemic from day one. Traditional institutions like Dorbars, village heads, anganwadi/ASHA workers, and civil societies who are battling against the dreaded disease should be given a “token of appreciation” in some form or the other, he maintained.
Meghalaya is fighting the pandemic on a war footing with the help of its local people, which has enabled it to keep the spread of the virus under control so far, Hek said. The state government has so far set up about 7,000 COVID committees, headed by village chiefs, who are part of the state’s fighting team, he added.
The hill state has spent about Rs 400 crore so far to fight the COVID 19 pandemic since March, Hek informed the Union minister, adding that most of the expenses were incurred in COVID care centres, procurement of PPEs, ambulances, lab and surveillance, and other facilities.
Dr Singh lauded the Northeastern states, particularly Meghalaya, for good COVID management, which has earned the state governments as well as the civil society the appreciation from all quarters. The countrywide surveys conducted by neutral agencies have also testified this, he said.
The Union minister also appreciated the role of civil societies, particularly the women self-help groups, who worked day and night in the early phase of lockdown.
This ensured that face masks and PPEs were not only available in sufficient numbers, but also accessible in different varieties and designs to the needy in time.
“The state governments of the region have rightly taken proactive steps from the beginning of COVID pandemic which broke the transmission chain and strengthened the existing health systems to meet any surge in cases,” Dr Singh said.
It is not a small achievement that during the lockdown period, almost five out of eight states of the North East remained corona-free and COVID-19 positive cases began to appear only after the movement of people started, he added.
Dr Singh said that there was effective arrangement and supply of ventilators and oxygen from the Centre. This ensured that there was not a single complaint from the North East of any patient having suffered on account of lack of non-availability of oxygen.
Involvement of local people and traditional organisations has kept the Northeastern states in the bottom half of the national COVID-19 tally, reports from the region said.
These states have been able to successfully combine their traditional ways of life with the lifestyle required to keep the virus at bay.
In Meghalaya and other Northeastern states, hotels, churches, and other public and private institutions have been converted to COVID care centres. Local people are not only keeping a vigil on the violators but also supporting the patients in different ways which is very important, Hek added.