The Centre instructed states on Wednesday to intensify contact tracing of Tablighi Jamaat members who participated in the sect’s religious gathering at Delhi’s Nizamuddin held between March 13-15, and asked them to initiate steps to cancel visas of its foreign members who participated in the event in violation of their visa conditions. The instructions were issued in a video conference chaired by the Cabinet Secretary with all the Chief Secretaries and police chiefs of states.
“The States were sensitized about the intensive contact tracing of Tablighi Jamat participants as this has increased the risk of containment efforts of COVID-19. The States were asked to complete the contact tracing process on a war footing,” an official release on the meeting said.
The meeting comes ahead of a video conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold on Thursday with the chief ministers of states and union territories to review the progress made in containing coronavirus through lockdown measures and to address any key challenges in its effective implementation and desired outcomes.
The Nizamuddin congregation has turned out to be a major source of infections around the country, with Telangana reporting that all its new cases were from attendees to the Delhi meet, which is suspected to have been held in violation of several restrictions imposed on large gatherings and holding of religious events.
Delhi police had registered an FIR against the organizers of the event on Tuesday and the government release detailing points from the meeting held by the cabinet secretary, says states have also been asked for registering cases against the organizers of the Jamaat and its foreign participants.
{{/usCountry}}Delhi police had registered an FIR against the organizers of the event on Tuesday and the government release detailing points from the meeting held by the cabinet secretary, says states have also been asked for registering cases against the organizers of the Jamaat and its foreign participants.
{{/usCountry}}“It has been found that foreigners who had participated in the Tablighi Jamat had violated visa conditions. The States were asked to initiate action for violation of visa condition against the foreigners and the organizers of the event,” the release said.
In other important measures, the states were asked to implement the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana within the next week, while taking care to maintain social distancing.
The central government had announced a combined package worth 1.7 lakh crore under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana early last week which included several cash relief measures including Rs 1,000 to three crore senior citizen, widows and disabled among the poor class, Rs 1,500 assistance for women holding Jan Dhan accounts, Rs 2,000 advance payment to farmers months apart from other measures including additional ration for the poor, increased wages for MNREGA workers and relief for construction workers through state wage board funds.
The cabinet secretary is said to have told states that the implementation of the scheme will likely involve large cash transfer to beneficiaries and it should therefore be organized in a staggered manner to ensure social distancing.
In other important steps, the states were also told to ensure the manufacturing of essential goods continues along with the maintenance of supply chains of such goods with and between different states.
It was also noted that the lockdown is being implemented effectively all over the country.