Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin sanctioned Rs 100 crore from the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund (CMPRF) to equip the state for the third wave of the pandemic and for procuring oxygen, on Tuesday. The Chief Minister on Tuesday said that a sum of Rs 100 crore has been sanctioned from Rs 353 crore donated by various groups of people to the CMPRF. An official statement from the Chief Minister's Office said that the CM had earlier sanctioned Rs 50 crore from CMPRF towards procuring anti-viral Remdesivir medicines and containers for transporting medical oxygen through railways from other states. Another Rs 50 crore was sanctioned for purchasing RT-PCR test kits since the state is testing 1.6 lakh people every day.
The official statement said that the Chief Minister had sanctioned an amount of Rs 41.40 crore for importing oxygen concentrators and other equipment from Singapore and other foreign countries, while Rs 25 crore was allotted for buying essential medicines to treat patients infected by Mucormycosis (black fungus).
In May, Chief Minister Stalin appealed to the people of Tamil Nadu, corporate institutions and charities to contribute generously to the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund. Stalin said that the second wave had placed immense stress on the state's health infrastructure and the people and his government had arranged all its resources for combating the pandemic in order to protect the lives of people. The Chief Minister assured that the details of donation received and the expenditure will be transparently put out for the public and such contribution will be entitled for 100% Tax exemption under Section 80 (G) of the Income Tax Act.
On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu reported 4,512 cases of novel coronavirus taking the total number of active cases in the state to 39,335 patients. The state witnessed 6,013 patients getting discharged following treatment on Tuesday. Coimbatore recorded the highest number of new cases at 563.
(With IANS inputs)