NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, APRIL 11
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Saturday conveyed to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he is supporting extension of lockdown beyond April 14 including air and train services should not resume.
Addressing at the virtual Chief Ministers’ meeting convened by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he stressed the importance of smooth supply of essential commodities.
கொரோனா தடுப்பு மற்றும் பாதுகாப்பு நடவடிக்கைகள் குறித்து இன்று (11.4.2020) காணொளிக் காட்சி மூலம் மாண்புமிகு பாரதப் பிரதமர் @PMOIndia அவர்கள், அனைத்து முதல்வர்களுடன் நடைபெற்ற கலந்தாய்வில் ஆலோசனை மேற்கொண்டேன். pic.twitter.com/vfXsaTNuVc
— CMOTamilNadu (@CMOTamilnadu) April 11, 2020
The Chief Minister sought two lakh test kits from the Centre, additional funding to aid unorganised sector workers and farm labourers, besides Rs 2,000 to each of their families if the lockdown is to be extended by the Centre.
He wanted the Centre to announce a special package for agriculture and horticulture promotion. Briefing reporters about the video conference and a subsequent Cabinet meeting, Chief Secretary K Shanmugam said several Chief Ministers opined that under the present circumstances the lockdown should be extended and if not, all efforts taken so far to check COVID-19 will fail.
“Our Chief Minister too has favoured extension of lock down in Tamil Nadu by at least two weeks based on experts recommendation,” he said. A 19-member expert panel had on Friday favoured extending curbs for 14 more days to Chief Minister Palaniswami. “The Cabinet meeting decided to implement the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on extending the lockdown at the national level,” Shanmugam said.
Palaniswami has briefed the Cabinet on the views of several CMs on prolonging curbs and the recommendation of the State”s expert panel to extend restrictions by 14 more days.
“Tamil Nadu government will take a decision on extending lockdown based on the announcement of the PM on the matter,” he said. Shanmugam said the Prime Minister advised states to take steps to popularise the use of ”Aarogya setu” mobile app among people and take initiatives in areas like telemedicine and follow containment and quarantine strategies according to number of positive cases in a given affected area.
While the Chief Secretary in his press conference initially said the PM was scheduled to address the nation tonight (on COVID-19), he subsequently clarified that it has not been confirmed.
The Cabinet meet deliberated on the action being taken to prevent the spread of coronavirus right from the beginning. It lauded doctors, nurses, paramedics and police personnel for their dedication in the fight against the contagion and thanked them. Similarly, the government appreciated and thanked the people too for their cooperation in following the lockdown.
Earlier, an official release quoted Palaniswami as saying, “Train and flight services should not be resumed. I appeal to the Prime Minister and other Chief Ministers not to allow inter State passengers movement.” Smooth supply of essential commodities like dhal and spices from other states through railways and inter-State movement of these goods through lorries should be ensured, the Chief Minister said.
“If the lockdown is extended,I request additional funding as well as allotment of essential commodities to support the unorganised sector workers and agricultural labourers. They may be provided 2,000 rupees per family.” Palaniswami also told Modi that “testing of the contacts has to be done immediately for which I require rapid test kits.I have written to the Union Health Minister to provide two lakh test kits to Tamil Nadu.” Positive cases climbed in Tamil Nadu to 969 on Saturday. Though TN has faced natural disasters continuously like the three cyclones between 2016 and 2018, besides a severe drought, it still got lesser allocation under the State Disaster Relief Fund, he said and requested an adhoc Rs 1,000 crore grant from the National Disaster Relief Fund to procure medical and protective material.
Thanking the Centre for Rs 510 crore grant under SDRF, he said the 15th Finance Commission methodology has resulted in Tamil Nadu getting only 64.65 per cent increase under the SDRF, while it is 120.33 per cent for other states.
The Chief Mininster batted for Rs 9,000 crore grant to launch a comprehensive plan to combat COVID-19 and its aftermath on the state’s economy, Rs 3,000 crore towards buying ventilators, protective gears and wanted the Centre to supply polymerase chain reaction and rapid test kits.
Also, he reiterated a number of measures like nod for additional borrowing of 33 per cent above the permitted level for fiscal year 2019-20 may be allowed for 2020-21 for combating the pandemic. Presently, the State has 12 government facilities and seven private labs for COVID-19 testing and this needed to be increased, he pointed out.
