Assam Governor Prof Jagdish Mukhi on Friday said the menace inflicted by novel coronavirus has also swept Assam and several people have been tested positive after they attended Tablighi Jamaat congregation.
The Governor, however, said the State Government is in the process of taking comprehensive measures to safeguard the livelihood of the people of the State.
In a video conference on Friday which was addressed by the President of India along with the vice president for the Governors of the State, Prof Mukhi made this statement to the President.
He also stated that Government of Assam has taken steps to ensure that the tea industry which is the major revenue earner for Assam is not affected by COVID-19.
Therefore, the government has, taken steps to safeguard the livelihood of 10 lakh tea garden workers and 26 lakh farmers of the state and ensured their food security.
Governor Prof Mukhi informed the President that till March 30 last, there were no COVID-19 positive case in Assam but now the number has spiked and as many as 20 positive cases have been reported and all of them have been reported to have attended the Tablighi Zamaat congregation.
He also said that the deputy commissioners and the superintendents ofpolice of all the districts have been asked to trace the unreported attendees and put them under quarantine.
Public notices have also been issued requesting them to come forward and report to the concerned authority for the government to take over the responsibility of their treatment.
During the conference, Governor, Prof Mukhi said council of ministers of the state led by the Chief Minster, has taken all inclusive steps including creating adequate health infrastructure for giving right kind of treatment to the affected people in all 33 districts of the state.
He also said all the core government departments are on their toes and providing services day in and day out.
All other peripheral departments are also on the standby to give their services in case of any emergency.
Governor Prof Mukhi highlighting the preparedness of the State, said buffer stock of all essential commodities including medicines are in good shape.
Giving the vignettes of all the services that State Government is providing during lockdown period, Prof Mukhi said right from keeping the essential services ready on 24×7 basis to ensuring that the traders do not charge more than the maximum retail price, the government has taken measures to provide green vegetables at the doorsteps of the consumers through mobile vans.
The Governor also drew the attention of the President that the Assam Red Cross Society has been activated to create large scale awareness among the public to impart behavioural change narratives especially among the rural people to motivate them to adopt social distancing and avoid community gathering.
The Assam Red Cross Society, the Governor informed is distributing hand sanitizers and masks to the people and demonstrating among the people how personal hygiene especially frequent hand washing can potentially relieve them from getting infection of the virus.
The President while taking stock of the prevailing situation of the state, asked the Governor to maintain strict surveillance across the state and ensure government intervention especially in the vulnerable areas and help all the service providing agencies to bail the state out of the scourge of COVID 19.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu who also participated in the video conference said that since economy of Assam is predominantly agriculture based, farmers’ welfare during this epidemic period should be given top priority and the government should lend capacity to the farmers with regards to cropping and harvesting.