Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh on Thursday briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about steps taken by the state government to contain the spread of coronavirus and relief measures initiated for people affected by the lockdown, officials here said.The PM held a video conference with chief ministers to take stock of the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak and the subseqent 21-day lockdown enforced to tackle the pandemic.Baghel informed the PM about efforts being made to prevent and control the coronavirus spread in Chhattisgarh, an official of the government public relations department said.The CM also provided details of measures being taken to provide relief to people, especially the poor, during the lockdown, he said.Chief Secretary RP Mandal, Director General of Police DM Awasthi, Additional Chief Secretary Subrat Sahoo and Health Secretary Niharika Barik Singh were present at the conference along with the CM, he said.Notably, Baghel, in a letter to the PM on March 29, had him urged to announce a special relief package for labourers under MGNREGS, workers in organised and unorganised sectors and Jan Dhan account holders.Baghel had suggested in the letter that a sum of Rs 1,000 be transferred per month in the accounts of MGNREGS labourers and workers from the unorganised sector for the next three months.Similarly, an amount of Rs 750 should be transferred into Jan Dhan Yojna accounts per month for the next three months, his letter said.Till Wednesday, Chhattisgarh had reported nine COVID- 19 cases. Of these, two were discharged from a Raipur hospital on March 31 following recovery.According to health officials, fresh samples of a woman, admitted in a hospital of Bilaspur, have tested negative for the infection and she is liketo be discharged soon.
