From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, May 26: All employees of the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) employees have been declared as Corona Warriors by chief minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday.
The chief minister, who held a video conference with select presidents of gram panchayat and panchayat development officers (PDOs) of Mysuru, Ballari, Belagavi and Shivamogga districts to review the Covid control measures, also promised the facilities offered to the revenue department employees will also be extended to RDPR employees.
The chief minister described the Covid second wave this year as far more serious than the first wave last year as the Covid pandemic has now spread to rural areas and underscored the need to take special measures to break the chain by testing the infected persons early and providing immediate medical treatment.
Yediyurappa said the Rs 1,250 crore compensation package announced by him the help the Covid affected sections had a provision for release of Rs 50,000 grant to each of the gram panchayats from the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF), which should reach all GPs soon. He asked the RDPR authorities to utilize the financial grant for healthcare.
He said the grants to the state’s panchayat raj institutions from the balance amount from the 14th Financial Commission and the uncommitted funds from the 15th Financial Commission as well as their own resources must be properly utilized.
It is the duty of all GPs and panchayat raj functionaries to ensure that the Covid guidelines announced by the state government were strictly enforced and the public gatherings of people during weekly fairs and other meetings must be prevented as they aid in the spread and transmission of the virus.
The chief minister asked GPs to establish help desks and helplines to help the Covid infected people and work in close coordination with the task forces. They can also seek the help of voluntary agencies and donors to assist the people.
Special arrangements for helping women, children, physically challenged persons as also senior citizens with food and other basic necessities. If the children become orphaned due to the death of their parents due to Covid, such children must be immediately entrusted to the care of childrens’ protection committees and must not be allowed to be adopted by unauthorized persons, he said.
State RDPR minister, K S Eshwarappa, deputy chief minister and public works minister, Govind M Karjol, home and law minister, Basavaraj Bommai, chief secretary, P Ravikumar, additional chief secretary and development commissioner, Vandita Sharma, RDPR additional chief secretary, L K Atiq, principal secretary, Uma Mahadevan, RDPR commissioner Anirudh Shravan and other senior officials were present during the virtual interaction.