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PM Modi's virtual meet with the CMs on COVID-19: What TN CM EPS has demanded?

By alagu, 11 August, 2020
India, Tamilnadu, Chennai, Coronavirus, Nationwide lockdown

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has, on Tuesday, convened a virtual meeting with the Chief Ministers of ten Indian states and took stock of the situation and developments of the COVID-19 outbreak in these states. Tuesday's slot of discussion had the states which had reported heavy caseloads in the nation's COVID-19 tally. 

According to the reports, the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Punjab, Bihar, Gujarat, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh had attended the video conference while the authorities have attended from Karnataka on behalf of Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, who recovered from COVID-19 on Monday.

The virtual meet, which was also attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, had drawn significance as these ten states have more cases and a high population density. During the meet, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami has requested the Central government to provide a relief package of Rs 3,000 crore to the state for its efforts in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic. 

By highlighting the efforts and measures taken by the state government, the Chief Minister has appealed to the Center to release a special grant of Rs 9,000 crore to battle the outbreak and its ardent impact on the economy. He stated, "We've received Rs 512.64 crore from Centre in 2 tranches under Emergency Response&Health Systems Preparedness package out of Rs 712.64 crore allotted to state.I request this package may be stepped up to Rs 3,000 crore as my earlier request". "To make up for the shortfall, Tamil Nadu may be allocated 9,000 crore rupees special grant to combat COVID-19 and it’s after effects on the State’s economy. The GST compensation for April-June, 2020 may be released early", he added.

 

The Chief Minister said that the state's treasury has been getting exhausted and funds from the Center would aid the state in fighting the pandemic. He said, "As we have already fully exhausted State Disaster Response & Mitigation Fund, I also request an ad-hoc grant of Rs 1,000 crore from NDRF immediately to fight pandemic. Releasing pending CMR subsidy of Rs 1,321 crore at this time, will facilitate paddy procurement". Besides thanking the center for its guidance, the state government has requested the Center to alter its reforms based on the need of the state. 

By welcoming the Center's announcement of extending the free supply of rice and whole Chana Dal to the priority households, the Chief Minister said that the Chana Dal is not part of the diet of Tamil Nadu people and he requested the Center to dispatch 55,637 MT (Metric Tonne) of Toor Dal to the state till November.  The Chief Minister further requested the Center to aid the state in PCR tests and high-end ventilators. 

The Chief Minister said that Tamil Nadu has been pacing up aggressive and targeted testing and the state has been doing the maximum number of PCR tests in the country. The state has 130 labs - both the government and private and it has been conducting 65,000 tests per day on average. By highlighting that these tests cost around Rs 5 crore per day, the Chief Minister requested the Center to fund 50% of the cost from the PM-CARES fund. 

 

According to the reports, Tuesday's meet was the second round of the virtual meet with the Chief Ministers and on Monday, the Prime Minister held a virtual meeting with the Chief Ministers of six states. The current episode of the virtual meet was the seventh video conference of the Prime Minister with the state since the outbreak. During Tuesday's meet, Prime Minister Modi said that the measures taken by the governments are in the right direction as the average fatality rate has been continuously decreasing while the recovery rate has been increasing every day.

 

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