Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur while presiding over the meeting to review the Covid-19, review of drought situation in the district and also progress in implementation of Chief Minister’s announcements at Bachat Bhawan in Una today urged the elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies to come forward to motivate the people to use face masks, maintain social distancing and also strictly follow the SoPs and guidelines of the State Government particularly regarding number of people permitted in a social or religious function. He said that they can also pay a pivotal role by acting as a bridge between the State Health Department and those in home isolation due to Covid positive. He also urged the opinion makers and heads of civil societies to motivate the people to come forward for getting themselves get tested for Covid-19. He said that this would not only help in time bound detection of Corona cases, but also help in checking spread of this virus. He said that people should voluntarily come forward for testing as this would not only protect them but also help in spreading of this virus.
Jai Ram Thakur said that these representatives must also motivate the people to go for vaccination as this was vital for their wellbeing and safety. He also urged the representatives of the religious organization to motivate the people to avoid gatherings in large numbers in various social functions such as marriages etc. He directed the doctors to ensure proper treatment of the Covid-19 patients by getting themselves personally involved in the treatment. He said that the patients under treatment must not get a feeling of being ignored as this may cause ill effect on the patient. He said that behavior of the doctors and other para medical staff with the patients must be courteous for early recovery of the Covid patients.
Chief Minister said that the major cause of concern was the sharp surge in the number of Covid cases in the State. He said that there were only 218 active case, but today this number have crossed the 8400 mark. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the recently held video conferencing with the Chief Ministers of the country has asked the Chief Ministers to motivate the people to cooperate the Government to fight the pandemic. He said that the Una district administration played a commendable role in handling the people of the State coming back home during the lockdown last year as Una was only district of the State with broad gauge rail connectivity.
While reviewing the drought like situation in the district, Chief Minister said that efforts must be made for interlinking of various water supply schemes besides rationing water supply to various villages and habitations in water scarcity areas. He said that whole state has witnessed very less rainfall and snow during winter season, which has adversely affected water sources and thus water supply.
While reviewing the progress in Chief Minister’s announcements, he directed the officers to ensure timebound completion of all the announcements made by him in various constituencies of the district. He said that timely completion of all these developmental schemes, would not only facilitate the people of the area, but also avoid cost escalation of these developmental projects. He said that field officers must ensure that all the major projects announced and under implementation must be prepared and be taken up with a focused approach. He said that special focus must be laid on ensuring better quality in construction work particularly in the Public Works and jal shakti Departments. He said that the officers must adopt targeted approach for timebound completion of developmental projects.
Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Virender Kanwar said that being the border district, special stress need to be laid to take stern steps against the defaulters. He said that the district has also being adversely affected due to the drought like situation. He also urged the Chief Minister to provide adequate funds so that the projects under implementation in the district could be completed soon.
Secretary Health Amitabh Awasthi said that all the health workers need to be more vigilant regarding the Covid-19 patients in home isolation as about 90 per cent of the total Covid patients were in home isolation. He said that this would not only help in speedy recovery of the Covid patients, but also would lessen the burden on the health institutions.
Deputy Commissioner Una Raghav Sharma while welcoming the Chief Minister and other dignitaries made a presentation on the occasion regarding the initiatives taken by the district administration to check the spread of the pandemic. He said that one of the major fairs of the district was held in the district by adopting SoPs and langars and bhandaras were completely banned. He said that people of the district were being sensitized by launching an effective IEC campaign. He said that regular inspections were being held of various social functions, to motivate the people to strictly follow the guidelines of the State Government regarding maximum number of people allowed in social gathering. He said that being a border district with porous borders and people of the district visit daily Punjab, was indeed a matter of concern. He also detailed the damages the district has witnessed to the crops due to the drought like situation. He said that Amb and Gagrat area were adversely affected due to the drought like situation. He also assured the Chief Minister to ensuring timebound completion of all the Chief Minister’s announcements.
Chief Medical Officer Una made a detailed presentation of Covid-19 situation in the district. He said that there were 781 active cases in the district and 88 deaths have been reported in the district till date. He said that the positivity rate of the district was 4.5 percent, which was quite alarming. He said that as many as 98704 people of the district have been administered first dose of vaccine and 8835 have taken both the doses of vaccine. He said that there was adequate stock of medical linguistics in the district for providing better treatment to the patients in the district.
Various stakeholders such as representatives of Vyapar Mandal, religious, social associations also participated in the meeting and shared their views on the occasion.
Chairman State Finance Commission Satpal Singh Satti, MLAs Rajesh Thakur, Balbir Chaudhary, Vice Chairman HIMUDA Praveen Sharma, Vice Chairman HPSIDC Prof. Ram Kumar, Chairperson Zila Parishad Neelam Kumari, Vice Chairman Kishan, Superintendent of Police Una Archit Sen and other officers of the district attended the meeting.
