AP govt to issue ordinance for 3 months vote on account

Amaravati, March 27 (SocialNews.XYZ) In view of the coronavirus crisis, the Andhra Pradesh government has decided to issue an ordinance for vote on account for the three month period ending June 30. The AP cabinet headed by chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy met on Friday and also reviewed the situation after lockdown in the state.

Social distancing norms were followed in the cabinet meeting too.

Briefing the media after the cabinet meeting, Information and & Public Relations Minister Perni Nani said, "The cabinet has approved the Ordinance for drawing money for the expenses of State for the next three months and once it gets the Governor's nod, the details would be revealed. As it is not possible to convene the budget session in the wake of the pandemic, the government is going for an Ordinance."

Friday's cabinet meeting also reviewed the status of measures put in place for containing the coronavirus. During the meeting, Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy held extensive discussions on the medical facilities and ways to further strengthen the medicare system. To obtain state-level feedback, a task force comprising five ministers, 10 senior IAS officers and four officials from the CMO will be formed to coordinate with district level teams of ministers and officers.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the state has risen to 11, with one more case detected in Visakhapatnam. Over 28,000 foreign returnees have been tracked and a constant vigil is being maintained on them and their contacts.

Four hospitals - one each at Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and Nellore have been converted into dedicated super specialty Covid hospitals while 100-bedded isolation centres are in place at constituency level, and 200-bed isolation centres at the district level. About 400 ventilators are in place and PPEs (Personal Protection Equipment) surgical masks for patient attendants along with N95 masks are available in required numbers and order was placed for more equipment which will be delivered in a couple of days.

The minister also urged the people to take the lockdown seriously and help the government fight the invisible enemy.

"It is very sad to see that students and others from our state are stranded at other places but the helplessness of the situation prompts us to say that they have to stay where they are or cross the border and be quarantined for 14 days. In other days the Chief Minister would have been more than happy to seek Centre's help to bring back Andhra students from anywhere but now in the times of Covid-19, the situation is grim and everyone has to stay where they are to avoid the spread," the minister said.

Perni Nani requested the media to refrain from sensationalising the developments at the state borders to prevent panic.

Source: IANS