CHHATTISGARH ACTED EARLY TO TAKE ON VIRUS: BAGHEL
CM Bhupesh Baghel says cautious tribals stopped ‘Murga Ladai’ for the first time.
The whole country is struggling with the coronavirus crisis, and Chhattisgarh is also playing an important role to win this battle. A total of nine corona positive cases have emerged in the state, but three of them have returned home after getting well. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has said that Chhattisgarh started preparations to deal with coronavirus crisis from February, and, as a result, even the tribals in the remote Bastar region of the state are supporting the battle against the virus.
In a special conversation with India News and Newsx, Chief Minister Baghel said: “You will be surprised that the tribal areas of the state are more alert. For the first time in history, ‘Murga Ladai’ in Bastar has been closed. People of Bastar make quarantine centres outside the village, for tribals who have gone to other states. So separate arrangements have been made for them to stay.”
In response to a question, Baghel said that the Nizamuddin Markaz event has increased the challenge, though, at this time, he does not want to get into any charges, but wants to know who is responsible for all this. He added that several persons from Chhattisgarh attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in New Delhi and would now need to be traced and tested. “We have identified them. 32 out of 103 are quarantined and 69 are placed in home isolation,” Baghel said. Baghel also said his government put in a lot into preparing for the state’s self-imposed lockdown on 21 March. The first positive case in the state came on 18 March, but before that, on 13 March, “we ordered to close schools, colleges and government offices. We decided not to celebrate Holi. Not only this, the Cabinet meeting was also done through video conferencing. We started our preparations much earlier, due to which there was less trouble.” Before scaling up restrictions, the Chhattisgarh government, Baghel said, distributed 70 kg of free rice to each of 56 lakh families in the state, set up shelters and amenities for 60,000 migrant workers, and provided two quintals of rice at every ward and across all 11,000 gram panchayats to cater to those left out of the PDS net. Blockade was done in the state. After this, infiltration into districts, cities and villages was prevented. In this way, “we managed to stop community spread to a great extent,” Baghel said. He said that in this campaign, the government got the full support of the social organisations. Baghel thanked the media and said that he was successful in making people aware. He said that suggestions were taken in the war against coronavirus, and that helped in resolving the problems. The market was organised so that people got rations, vegetables and essential items. Bulk and crowded markets were closed and shifted to different places, so that social distancing could follow. The compulsion to put a rate list in the market also stopped black marketing, Baghel said. Arrangements were made for labourers and farmers working in the fields and fences. In the same way, effective arrangements for transportation of grains and vegetables were successful, Chief Minister Baghel added.