Andhra Chief Minister (CM) YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday instructed state officials to concentrate on agriculture, civil supplies and marketing departments to ensure that the farmers and people don’t face any issues during the COVID-19 lockdown.
CM held a review meeting with a group of ministers and Chief Secretary, Director General of Police (DGP) and other key officials from Health and other emergency services.
He directed Ministers Kannababu, Mopidevi, Kodali Nani and Task Force officials to ensure that there is no shortage of food supplies in the state and to keep vigil on the prices of essentials.
CM directed the officials to continue measures for social distancing at Ryhtu Bazaars, shops, and supermarkets. He said, "The price list should be displayed at every shop and strict actions should be taken against those who sell the products at a higher price than the fixed price.”
Jagan stressed on the need to continue the supply chain of essential commodities and ensure smooth agricultural operations, while instructing the officials that a strategic plan should be followed based on the police, medical and survey data.
CM has also sought details on the house-to-house survey that is underway by ANMs (Auxiliary Nursing Midwifery), Asha workers, volunteers across the state in the wake of COVID19. Officials said that the survey was conducted in 1.28 crore households from the existing 1.45 crore households in the state. Those who have shown any of the symptoms of COVID-19 will be observed in the second phase and tests will be conducted accordingly.
Officials said that two new testing centres are now functional in Guntur and Kadapa, besides two other test centres at Visakhapatnam, which would be functional from Monday. Currently, the testing labs have the capacity to conduct 700 tests every day and that will be increased to 900 per day after coordinating with private testing labs.
CM directed the officials to ensure that there are no issues in accommodating the migrant labourers, workers who were stranded at various places due to the lockdown.
According to officials, about 78,000 workers were stranded in various camps at their work locations. A total of 236 government-run camps are providing accommodation to 16,000 workers and a social welfare department officer has been appointed to monitor the situation at these camps. Another 62,000 workers are being accommodated through various NGOs, companies and other sources.
Jagan asked the officials to appoint Special Officers and send them to places where people from outside the state such as Mumbai, Varanasi, Goa, Ajmer, and Tamil Nadu were stranded, to address their concerns and provide necessary help.
Officials have been directed to ensure that there are no issues in delivering Rs 1000 financial assistance to the poor as announced by the government earlier.
CM has also instructed the officials to ensure that there will be assurance for farmers to get fair price for their products beside easing of certain restrictions.
Officials also informed that 803.4 metric tonnes of aqua products were exported on April 2 and about 1,530 metric tonnes will be exported in another two to three days through Kakinada, Vizag, and Krishnapatnam ports.
Jagan, while discussing spike in the number of cases in the state following the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi, instructed the officials to “strictly implement all the guidelines”.
Out of 164 positive cases in the state, as many as 140 were related to Tablighi Jamaat event, it was disclosed in the review meeting.