The Bengal government on Thursday said three more deaths due to Covid-19 had been confirmed by its audit committee comprising of five doctors, taking the toll in the state to 10, while 24 new cases were detected since Wednesday.
Chief secretary Rajiv Sinha said Kolkata and Howrah figured in the ‘red zone’ earmarked by the Union health ministry. “Red zones indicate that the number of cases (in the area) is doubling in four days. Many districts are in the orange zone,” he added.
Sinha said there are 144 active Covid-19 cases in Bengal on Thursday while 3,811 people had been tested for the infection till date. “On Wednesday, the figure stood at 3,470,” he said.
“I cannot understand why the media is biased towards the Centre and is comparing data on different parameters. Rest assured there are no lapses on the part of the state government. The state and the Centre work together,” Sinha said at a press conference at Nabanna, the state secretariat, when he was asked whether door-to-door survey was being done following guidelines of the Union health ministry. He was speaking in the presence of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
Agitated by repeated complaints on unavailability of rice and other items at fair price shops, which triggered agitations and road blocks in several districts, Banerjee on Thursday pulled up the civil supplies department and transferred Manoj Agarwal, its secretary. She announced this at the press conference.
{{/usCountry}}Agitated by repeated complaints on unavailability of rice and other items at fair price shops, which triggered agitations and road blocks in several districts, Banerjee on Thursday pulled up the civil supplies department and transferred Manoj Agarwal, its secretary. She announced this at the press conference.
{{/usCountry}}“There was disruption in supply in around 10 per cent places in the state. We will appoint a new secretary. The ration shop owners were not ready for this crisis. Also, many of them do not have enough space to stock up a month’s quota of ration for enlisted beneficiaries in that area. I have asked the administration to use the premises of local community clubs to disburse ration. As announced, we will give five kg rice to all those who are needy along with pulses. People will get ration for six months free of cost,” said Banerjee.
“Let me make it clear that this is government-supplied ration and not anyone’s personal property,” the CM said in a veiled threat to Trinamool Congress workers in some districts who have been accused of using food distribution to gain mileage for local party units.
Banerjee also announced that acting on requests from sweet shop owners the government was extending their time of operation from 8 am to 4 pm. Earlier, the shops were allowed to open at 12 pm.
On Thursday, the government also allowed online registration of property so that people don’t have to visit registration offices. The chief secretary said people would get a 20 per cent discount on registration fee with the maximum ceiling on the discount fixed at Rs 20,000.
Asked how the government was determining death figures, Sinha said, “We list all deaths and these are sent to the audit committee of doctors. We are not aware how many deaths the audit committee has reviewed so far and how many it has marked as non Covid-19 related.”
Dr Sukumar Mukherjee, a member of the global advisory committee set up by the state government, told the media in Banerjee’s presence that the audit committee of doctors reviewing the deaths is following guidelines of ICMR and WHO.