New Delhi, Apr 30 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a virtual meeting to review the functioning of different Empowered Groups with regard to the issues related to the prevailing Covid situation in the country.

The empowered group on economic and welfare measures made a presentation to the Prime Minister on the steps taken by it such as the extension of the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.

It was discussed that the portability enabled due to the ‘One Nation, One Ration Card' initiative has helped more people, while the insurance scheme for frontline health workers has been extended for another six months.

The Prime Minister directed that the Central government should work in close coordination with the states to ensure that the poor people get the benefit of free foodgrain without any hassle.

The Prime Minister also said that steps should be taken to expedite the settlement of the pending insurance claims so that the dependents of the deceased are able to avail the benefits in time.

The empowered group on issues relating to facilitating supply chain and logistics management gave a presentation on the various advisories related to the measures to be taken to contain the pandemic.

The Prime Minister instructed the officials to plan holistically to ensure seamless movement of goods so that supply chain disruptions are avoided.

The empowered group on coordinating with the private sector, NGOs and international organisations briefed the Prime Minister on how the government is working in active partnership with these bodies.

Modi asked the officials to explore how volunteers from civil society can be utilised to lessen the pressure on the healthcare sector by including them in non-specialised tasks.

It was discussed that the NGOs could help establish and maintain lines of communication between the patients, their dependents and healthcare personnel. Ex-servicemen could be encouraged to handle call centres for communicating with the people under home quarantine.