AP CM YS Jagan Seeks Lifting Of Lockdown Curbs In 595 Safe Mandals

AMARAVATI: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the prevailing lockdown scenario and the hardships the people of the state are facing due to it. Addressing the prime minister during the latter’s video-conference meeting with chief ministers of various states, YS Jagan emphasized the urgent need to resume some economic activity in the state by limiting the lockdown only to the 37 red zones and 44 orange zones where the spread of the COVID-19 is more pronounced. The chief minister informed the prime minister that out of total 676 mandals in AP, 595 are categorized as green zones, which are safe and do not have any impact of COVID-19.

YS Jagan clearly focused on the economic crisis in the state and gave a detailed account on the impact of lockdown, particularly on the common man. The AP CM briefed the prime minister on how migrant workers and daily wage-earners across many sectors including agriculture, aquaculture and horticulture are reeling under the prolonged shutdown.

He spoke of the blanket adverse impact of the lockdown restrictions on the welfare and well-being of all the people in the state.

While fully extending his support and cooperation to whatever the prime minister decides, the chief minister made an impassionate appeal that the “wheel of the economy should continue at least to a level of sustenance of the people.”

YS Jagan exuded the confidence that even by resuming minimum economic activity, Coronavirus can be effectively controlled. He said that this could be made possible by strictly adhering to the effective measures like social distancing and closure of all places of public gathering like places of worship, cinema halls and shopping malls.

The AP CM said that Agriculture, which is the lifeline of Indian economy and the source for 62 per cent of the workforce in the state, has been crippled while farmers are facing huge losses.

“Inter-state vehicular movement has come down to the lowest level as there are no trucks for transportation. Farmers are unable to transport perishable crops which are eventually rotting and becoming useless,” he said. Added to this, are the challenges faced in the form of storing perishable farm produce and the lack of storage capacity and transportation.

Speaking about the states preventive measures for Coronavirus, YS Jagan informed the prime minister that the state government is continuously monitoring 1.4 crore families besides testing and treating the COVID-19 positive cases.

About 2,61,216 volunteers along with 40,000 Asha workers have been monitoring all the individuals across the state under the supervision of 3,000 medical officers. This is being done for early-stage detection and confirmation of COVID-19 symptoms.

The Andhra Pradesh chief minister said that the state government has declared 141 contaminant clusters in the state. Effective lockdown and house-to-house monitoring and extensive testing are the other major initiatives that are being taken up across the state to contain the spread of the virus.

He added: "We have ramped up infrastructure at hospitals, set up four critical care hospitals and district hospitals to treat the coronavirus patients and suspects.

He said that "COVID CARE has been set up in each district while 26,000 beds have been arranged for effective quarantine."

YS Jagan also thanked PM Modi for his timely support and the Centre’s guidelines for COVID-19 combat.

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