State seeks more funds from Centre to fight COVID-19

SHILLONG, June 16: Health Minister, AL Hek on Wednesday said Meghalaya’s financial position is “not bad” but the state has sought additional funds from the Centre to deal with the rising COVID-19 expenses more comfortably.
“So far, it’s not bad but you cannot say what will happen in the future. An extra amount has been sought for which the Chief Minister, the Chief Secretary and I have written a letter each, stating that we need more assistance and blessings from the Government of India,” the Health Minister said.
He did not share the details of expenditure incurred so far stating that a complete report has not been prepared yet. He said as the expenditure is rising by the hour, a request was made to the Centre for the additional financial assistance to ensure that the manageable line of finance is not breached.
The Minister assured that no matter what, all efforts will be made to save lives.
On the Congress’s remark about insufficient manpower and life-saving ambulances, Hek said, “We have been increasing additional manpower as much as required and the issue of life-saving ambulances is also being looked into.”
“I admit that some ambulances are not fully equipped with life-saving equipment but not all,” he said, adding the Rs 1,000 honorarium to the ASHA workers has already been released.
“It has been already released to all districts through the DMHO. I am not saying all of them have received it but many of them have. We are discussing to enhance the amount but we haven’t yet taken the final decision,” he added.