Sonowal requests his counterparts of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, and Karnataka to help stranded people of Assam in other states.

Guwahati, April 18: Sonowal requests other states to aid stranded people of Assam. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday called his counterparts of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan and Karnataka over phone and requested them for the ‘safe keeping’ of the people of Assam stranded in their respective states amid COVID 19 lockdown.

Sonowal while talking to Uddhab Thakare of Maharashtra, Vijay Rupani of Gujarat, Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy of Andhra Pradesh, Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala, Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan and B.S. Yediyurappa of Karnataka conveyed the words of requests to take care of the people of Assam stranded in their states and provide them with food, accommodation and security.

“I will be grateful to you if you please direct your respective district administrations for the safekeeping of the people of Assam who for the sake of their professional, academic, medical and other requirements got stranded in your respective states,” Sonowal said.

The Assam Chief Minister also maintained that though the Government of Assam to give succor to its people stranded in several parts of the country, has extended its helping hands, without the support of the local dispensations, the government cannot provide solace to its people.

He also informed that the Government of Assam has also sent letters to different State governments requesting them to help the stranded people of Assam.

Sonowal also told them that in Assam the entire government machinery has been alerted to provide ‘safekeeping’ including food, accommodation and security if people from other states of the country got stuck up in Assam because of COVID 19 lockdown. He also stated that the Government of Assam has already received letters from other State governments to help the people of their states in Assam, as the government is doing its best to help them.

The Assam Chief Minister apprised them of the prevailing situation in Assam especially because of coronavirus outbreak and the steps that the Government of Assam has taken in terms of real-time medical intervention and infrastructural up-gradation for the management of COVID 19 outbreak.

Assam government offices to resume functioning from April 21:

Guwahati, April 18: Assam government has deiced to resume functioning of the state government offices from April 21 as per the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs for extending the lockdown till May 3 to contain the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).

In an order issued by the General Administration Department of the state government on Saturday stated that the Divisional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and SDO (Civil)s to ensure that maximum 33% of the employee in the cadre of Grade-II, III & IV as per requirement to attend office for smooth functioning of the offices.

“For that effect, a roster of duty for the employee shall be drafted by the respective Head of offices and ask them to attend offices on respective allotted dates till May 3. The officers/employees who will be at home on a particular day as per the roster drawn up should be available on telephone, mobile phone and electronic means of communication at all times. The period of working from home shall not be treated by the official or employee as leave. They should attend office if called for any exigency or work,” M Angamuthu, Commissioner & Secretary of General Administration Department said in the order.

The government order also stated that – “These instructions shall not apply to the offices and employees engaged in essential and emergency services and those directly engaged in taking measures to control the spread of COVID-19. In such cases the Deputy Commissioners are authorized to carry out any required urgent actions as per situational requirement adhering to the MHA, Govt. of India’s guidelines for the containment of the Pandemic in his/her jurisdictional areas.”

The General Administration Department has also issued separate orders for Assam secretariat and stated that the senior-most Secretary/Head of the Administrative Department will ensure that officers of the rank Of Deputy Secretary and above shall attend Office Of the Department regularly and other Grade-I and Grade-II officers may attend office as required w.e.f 21.04.2020.

“The senior-most Secretary/Head of the Administrative Department will ensure that up to maximum 33% of the staff of Grade-III and Grade-IV categories of the Department as per requirement shall attend office on rotation as and when required on need basis w.e.f 21.04.2020. All personal staff attached in the office Of the Hon’ble Minister’s Advisors/ senior-most Secretaries/OSDs shall attend office regularly w.e.f 21.04.2020. The concerned Department will issue necessary order in this regard as per the convenience of the Department,” said in the order.

The government order also made compulsory of wearing of face cover in the workplace, no gathering of five or more persons in close proximity, no spitting in office and outside.

The state government has also strictly ban on use of gutka, tobacco etc. and spitting.

“All workplaces shall have adequate arrangement for temperature screening and sanitizer. Frequent cleaning of common surfaces and handwashing shall be mandatory. Social distancing shall be maintained in the office canteen,” said in the government order.

Over 4.32 lakh migrant workers from Assam still stranded outside of the state due to lockdown:

Guwahati, April 18: Over 4.30 lakh migrant workers from Assam are still stranded in many states of the country due to the nationwide lockdown.

Assam has conducted 120 tests per million population: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Assam Health Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that, the state government has received over 9.29 lakh calls in helpline number provided to the people from Assam stranded outside of the state due to lockdown.

“We have announced that, the state government will provide financial aid to the students, wage laborers, pilgrims who are stranded outside of the state due to lockdown and given a helpline number. Many people from poor and middle-class families are still stranded outside of the state and facing a lot of problems. So that, we have launched a helpline number 9615471547 and those in need will have to give a missed call to the helpline number and they will get a voice mail and SMS with a link. They will have to update their information and bank account details. Till now we have received 9,29,568 called in helpline number. The mobile network service providers told us that, 432383 calls are coming from outside of Assam till now and the scrutiny process is going on,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

Addressing a press conference, the Assam minister further said that, out of the 4,32,383 people, 2,17,220 people had filled up the government provided form online and the state government will provide a financial aid to 50,000 people on April 20 at initial stage who are stranded outside of the state.

He said that, if these people will come back to Assam, then it will be a big challenge for the state government for the ongoing fight against the novel Coronavirus.

Among the migrant workers, over 66,000 workers from Assam are stranded in Karnataka, 34,000 in Kerala, 33,000 in Tamil Nadu, 21,000 in Maharashtra, 16,000 in Telanga, 5600 in Gujarat, 4600 in Goa, 4500 in West Bengal.

Himanta Biswa Sarma also said that, the state government has also provided 1000 US dollars to each of 34 people from Assam who are stranded abroad and Rs 25,000 to each of 725 cancer, kidney, heart and liver transplant patients who stranded outside of the state.

He also said that, the state government has decided to reopen a few medical college hospitals for general patients from April 25.

“But the doctor will insist before treating a person whether he is a COVID patient or non-COVID patient. The state government has decided to provide rapid testing kits in our government hospitals. If we get rapid testing kits from the center or other sources, then we are considering reopen the services for general patients at Guwahati Medical College Hospital, Silchar Medical College Hospital and Assam Medical College Hospital by April 25. Apart from it the state government has also decided to collect samples from throat and nose,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The Assam minister further said that, till Saturday, a total of 4400 samples were tested and 34 tested positive and 4199 tested negative and 167 test results are awaited.

“Out of 34 positive cases for COVID-19, 32 cases are related to Nizamuddin Markaz. 12 patients were discharged from various hospitals so far,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

He further said that Assam has conducted 120 tests per 1 million population in the state

12 COVID-19 patients discharged from Assam hospitals:

Guwahati, April 18: Three more COVID-19 patients were discharged from two hospitals in Assam on Saturday.

A total of 12 COVID-19 patients were discharged from various hospitals in the state so far.

On Saturday, two COVID-19 patients were discharged from Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital (MMCH) in Guwahati and one patient from Silchar Medical College Hospital (SMCH) in the presence of Assam Health Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma and junior minister Pijush Hazarika.

Assam Health Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma said that, they were discharged from the hospitals after their 3-4 successive tests came as negative.

The Assam Health minister said that, among the three patients who were discharged from the hospitals, two are hailing from Uttar Pradesh and they came to Nalbari district in Assam after attending the Nizamuddin Markaz event.

“After completing all tests came as negative, doctors have declared them as cure and so they are now discharged from the hospitals. So far, 12 patients have been discharged from hospitals,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

Earlier, nine other COVID-19 patients were discharged from Sonapur COVID-19 hospital, Goalpara civil hospital and Golaghat civil hospital.

Assam has reported 34 positive cases for COVID-19 so far.

A COVID-19 positive patient from Hailakandi district died on April 10

Assam CM Sonowal advocates for monitoring cell for health and hygiene of tea workers and farmers:

Guwahati, April 17: Health and hygiene of tea workers to be monitered by Sonowal considering the importance of tea in the economic health of the state as well as in the country, though some tea gardens were allowed to resume their functioning with minimum workforce, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal stressed on adequate social distancing norms for the tea gardens in the changing socio-economic landscape emanated in the aftermath of the novel Coronavirus outbreak in the state.

Visiting Biswanath district on Thursday to assess the preparedness of the district to deal with COVID 19 epidemic in the state, at the conference hall of DC office, Assam Chief Minister Sonowal asked the Deputy Commissioner to create a conducive working environment for the tea workers in Biswanath district for enabling the tea industry to aid state’s growth in the corona affected atmosphere.

Sonowal also asked the DC to constitute monitoring cells which will be exclusively mandated to inspect the social distancing norms including health and hygiene protocols of the workers engaged in the tea gardens in Biswanath district.

He asked the DC to ensure that during the extended lockdown period the nine thousand small tea growers do not have to face any encumbrances to pursue their tea-related activities including carrying plucked leaves to the factories.

Sonowal said that following the advisories of the Centre, the State government has taken all necessary steps to enforce the extended lockdown to contain and control COVID 19 outbreak.

“During this time though regulated permissions were granted to resume agricultural activities; utmost care should be taken to monitor the health and well being of the farmers,” Sonowal said.

He also maintained that though farmers would be engaged in agricultural activities, they should be in a position to use tractors, power tillers, etc to reduce human involvement and increase social distancing.

Chief Minister Sonowal also observed that the DC should be in regular interaction with the Minister in charge of Biswanathdistrict along with the MP and MLA and take coordinated steps to keep the district at bay from novel coronavirus infection.

He also said that the nine lakh residents of Biswanath district should not face any shortage of essential activities during the lockdown period and asked the DC to maintain the supply-chain and asked him to monitor regularly so that the prices of essential commodities do not spiral during the lockdown period.

Sonowal asked the DC to put his men and machinery on the toes to keep a tab on the unscrupulous elements who using the prevailing situation might indulge in creating a shortage of essential commodities and skyrocketing their prices.

Stating the Central government’s report of identifying the 32 districts of Assam as high and moderate COVID 19 infection-prone areas, Sonowal urged upon everybody to remain alert and take all steps to thwart the spread of the virus. He also asked Joint Direct, Health to maintain stock of all life-saving drugs including insulin, anti-venom, etc in the district.

It may be noted that in Biswanath district, as many as 3442 people have been kept in-home quarantine and swab tests have been conducted on 17 people and 15 of them have come negative and the reports of two are awaiting.

Five people have been kept in an institutional quarantine center and for any emergency, 197 isolating beds have been kept ready.

Handloom and Textile Minister Ranjit Dutta, MP Pallab Lochan Das, MLAs Padma Hazarika, Pramod Borthakur, Utpal Bora, Prasanta Phukan, Bimal Bora, DC Dhruba Jyoti Das, and other senior officers were present at the meeting.

On the other hand, Chief Minister Sonowal also visited Majuli and inspected the facilities including the isolation ward in Sri Pitambar Dev Goswami Civil Hospital. He later held a review meeting at the conference hall of DC Office, Majuli at Gormur and took stock of different measures put in place to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the island district. Sonowal also underscored the need for social distancing during the lockdown period to bail the state out of the menace of COVID 19.

Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Naba Kumar Doley, MLAs Prasanta Phukan, Bimal Bora, DC Bikram Koiree and other senior officers were present during the meeting.

Chief Minister Sonowal during his whirlwind tour also visited Dhemaji district today and took stock of the steps that the district administration took for the management of the COVID-19 outbreak.