NE NEWS SERVICE
PUDUCHERRY, MARCH 23
Chief Minister V Narayanasamy said a separate fund was being created to buy basic equipment to take on COVID-19 here on Monday.
He told reporters here that he and his ministerial colleagues would contribute a month’s salary each to the proposed fund and appealed to all legislators and Members of Parliament from Puducherry to also contribute their one-month salaries to the fund.
Narayanasamy also appealed to the government employees to contribute their one-day wages to the fund. He said already the government had set apart Rs 17.5 crore to meet the expenditure, yet more was needed to equip the hospitals with adequate devices to tackle coronavirus.
The proposed fund would also be used to provide support to the weaker sections who would be devoid of sources of livelihood because of the curfew being imposed from 9 pm on Monday.
CAP offers dormitory for COVID-19 patients
The Cricket Association of Pondicherry (CAP) has offered the dormitory in its Tutipet campus as a quarantine facility for coronavirus patients in Puducherry.
The CAP made the offer in a letter to the Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi. “We stopped cricketing activities due to outbreak of coronavirus. We can offer these facilities to house up to 30 infected patients if need be with necessary medical tie-up through Laxmi Medical College, Pondicherry,” the CAP letter said.
The coronavirus pandemic has played havoc with sporting calendars across the globe leading to cancellation or postponement of various events including the IPL in India. The Indian Olympic Association also announced that it will come out with its decision on its participation one month before the scheduled begining of Olympic games.