Bihar is in receipt of details of more
than 100 people hailing from the state, who might have attended the congregation of Tablighi Jamaat, the Delhi headquarter of which has emerged as a COVID-19 hotspot, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Thursday.
Speaking at Prime Minister Narendra Modis video conference with Chief Ministers of all states, Kumar stated that the total number of persons whose details have been received by his government was 112, out of whom 12 have been traced and efforts were on to locate 55 others for medical examinations.
The Bihar chief minister also mentioned that many persons, whose details have been sent to his government, are at present living outside the state.
Kumar underscored that the state had shown a high level of preparedness to combat the pandemic and pointed out that city-based Nalanda Medical College and Hospital has been functioning as a dedicated COVID 19 facility in line with the Prime Ministers suggestion that states consider having hospitals exclusively devoted to treating those afflicted by the dreaded virus.
Ruing the shortfall of protective gear for medical personnel, and other facilities sought by the state, he said as against a requisition of five lakh PPE kits, we have received only 4,000 till date.
Likewise, only 50,000 N95 masks have been supplied though we have sought 10 lakhs.. the number of RNA extraction kits made available stands at just 250 though we require 10,000, and we are yet to be provided with 100 additional ventilators which we need for effective treatment of infected patients, he added.
Drawing the Prime Ministers attention to the impending economic crisis, Kumar suggested that the fiscal deficit on which a cap of 3 per cent of GDP has been placed by the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act be raised to "4 per cent or more".
He recalled that in 2009-10 when there was a global economic meltdown, fiscal deficit was raised from 3 to 4 per cent, and again from 3.38 per cent to 3.5 per cent in the next fiscal.
The chief minister also disclosed that the state has set up a corona eradication fund which has received contributions from the Mukhyamantree Kshetr Vikas Yojana a revamped legislators local area development scheme under which every MLA and MLC can recommend works of up to Rs three crore in a year.
Many parliamentarians from the state, both in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, have recommended release of Rs one crore each from their MPLAD schemes. This money might go unused since efforts against corona are not constituency specific. The Union Home Ministry should consider advising the MPs that they make contributions to corona eradication fund instead, he added.
Kumar asserted that the crisis resulting from the return of a huge number of migrants from Delhi over the weekend has been managed by his government despite a resource crunch, and all such returnees were being provided with food, shelter and medical care under proper quarantine.
A total of 1,74,470 people, who have come to Bihar in recent times from outside the state, have been identified and are being kept in quarantine. These include 12,051 foreign nationals, Kumar said.
He also informed the Prime Minister that a total of 24 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Bihar so far, which include one death before the patients test results came out. Two have recovered so far while the deceased ended up infecting 11 people who came in contact with him at his home or at hospitals.
Later in the day, the chief minister launched a drive to provide financial assistance of Rs 1000 to each ration card holding family in the state, through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system, by a click of the mouse.
A sum of Rs 184.08 crore was transferred, on the inaugural day of the drive, into the bank accounts of about 18.40 lakh people. The chief minister directed that all remaining beneficiaries be extended the benefit at the earliest.
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