Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has on Saturday issued a crucial order to the DMK party members to continue distributing relief materials through the party's 'Ondrinaivom Vaa' programme to the poor and needy people across the state amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He also has directed the party members to avoid meeting him in person during his visits to the districts. 

The order from the Chief Minister to the party members has come a day ahead of his visit to the Western districts including Erode, Coimbatore, and Tiruppur. He will be taking stock of the COVID-19 situations and relief measures in these three districts on Sunday. According to reports, the Chief Minister will arrive at Erode on Saturday at 9 pm and visit the three districts on Sunday. 

The reports say that the Chief Minister is scheduled to visit the IRT Medical College in Perundurai, Erode, Kumaran college in Tiruppur, and ESI Medical College in Coimbatore. After meeting the hospitals, MK Stalin will be taking part in a review meeting that will be organized at the Coimbatore Collectorate. His visit on Sunday will become his first tour after extending the lockdown in the state till June 7. 

In a statement he issued on Saturday, the Chief Minister has urged the DMK party cadres and functionaries to create a situation where no one goes hungry in the state. He further directed them to express their love for him by extending relief measures to the public under the 'Ondrinaivom Vaa' campaign instead of erecting banners, arches, and hoardings. It must be noted that Ondrinaivom Vaa was one of MK Stalin's poll campaigns in the recently held assembly elections in the state. 

The Chief Minister will be visiting the western districts for two days and he called the two-day visit emergency visit to review the COVID-19 situation in these districts. His visit to Coimbatore will be unfolding at a high time when the district has been reporting higher COVID-19 cases than Chennai. Stalin said that except for the ministers, the party functionaries and cadres should avoid meeting him in person. He further appealed to the party members to adhere to the lockdown guidelines.