Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has said quarantine facilities in the state’s villages will be the government’s top agenda to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Rajasthan recorded 87 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the cumulative tally to 4213.
Till 9am, of the 87 cases reported, maximum 32 were from Jaipur, followed by Pali with 24, Udaipur 12, Rajsamand 7, Sawai Madhopur 5, Kota 3 and one each from Banswara, Bharatpur, Nagaur and Tonk.
The state currently has 1,641 active cases and 2,159 patients have been discharged.
Ashok Gehlot said on Tuesday lakhs of people are returning to Rajasthan from other states and preventing the spread of the infection in villages is an upcoming challenge.
The chief minister said elected representatives, especially legislators, along with district administrations will play a big role in the task. They should take this as a challenge and fulfil the responsibility of keeping the state safe, he said.
Gehlot made the comments during a discussion with the members of Parliament and MLAs of Jaipur and Ajmer divisions through video conferencing.
During the discussions, the public representatives made suggestions related to the allocation of additional wheat, drinking water problems, the opening of all shops, quick and smooth movement of labourers, starting employment scheme in urban areas on the lines of MNREGA.
“We together will definitely be successful in defeating this virus in the state. The state government has not discriminated against Covid-19. There is no discrimination in providing facilities such as ration distribution, treatment, and strictness in implementing curfew and quarantine,” Gehlot said.
He said there are more than 185,000 tests have been conducted in the state. There are 2,213 tests being done in Rajasthan per 10 lakh population, which is higher than other states. He added that by the end of May, the test capacity will be increased to 25,000 per day.
“We will have to intensify economic activities in the state only then we will be able to successfully combat these conditions. The state will easily provide job cards in MNREGA to the workers coming from outside,” deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot said.
Pilot suggested forming a joint committee of public representatives and administration up to the district and tehsil level to improve the quarantine system. He said that efforts should be made to promote self-help groups and provide financial support to strengthen the rural economy.
State assembly Speaker Dr CP Joshi said the chief minister has established a good tradition by taking all the parties together to combat such a global epidemic.
“Our effort should be to make the people’s representatives a partner in this fight till the panchayat level. We have to learn to live with Corona and for this, everyone including legislators will have to change their working system,” Joshi said
