Will carry out PM’s advice on Covid-19: K’taka CM

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Tuesday said it will look to implement suggestions made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to localise solutions and ensure all important officials in the district work as “field commanders” to fight the coronavirus pandemic

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Tuesday said it will look to implement suggestions made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to localise solutions and ensure all important officials in the district work as “field commanders” to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

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After a video conference with the Prime Minister, Karnataka home minister Basavaraj Bommai told reporters here that the main intent is to localise and implement guidelines with any improvisations, if required.

“All important people in the district, it could be officials, politicians, representatives of the people, DCs (deputy commissioners), DHO (district health officer) among other officers, you have to work as the field commander,” Bommai said.

The minister said officials must give a local context to orders from above and implement it. “Localise the main intent with any small changes. Make some small changes as per requirements,” he said.

Modi on Tuesday interacted with various officials from district administration across several states, including Karnataka, and proposed to localise solutions to keep the virus at bay.

“The number of districts in our country are equally different. In a way, every district has its own different challenges. You understand the challenges of your district much better. So when your district wins, the country wins. When your district beats corona, the country defeats corona,” he said in his interaction.

Modi also interacted with the local administration of 46 districts across 10 states, of which 17 districts were from Karnataka, according to the chief minister’s office (CMO).

“What are our weapons against this virus? Our weapons are local containment zones, aggressive testing and correct and complete information to the people,” Modi said.

The prime minister also suggested that children be made aware of the coronavirus through cartoons and comic books in the local language.

Experts have indicated that the imminent third wave of infections is likely to impact children more since this section is yet to be vaccinated.

The meeting with the Prime Minister comes at a time when the Covid-19 surge in Karnataka has witnessed a shift towards rural and semi-urban areas where the healthcare infrastructure is comparatively far more inadequate.

The 29 districts of Karnataka, excluding Bengaluru, reported 21,633 new infections of the total 30,309 across the state on Tuesday, according to the daily health bulletin of the state health department.

The focus of successive governments on Bengaluru, Karnataka’s biggest revenue and employment generator, has left a significant portion of the state backward. The northern districts in the state are among the most backward in the country and also comprise the most arid regions after Rajasthan.

Bommai said Modi asked the administration’s to use their healthcare infrastructure “judiciously” while also taking steps to increase capabilities.

The district administration in Karnataka have tried to implement localised solutions to contain the spread of the pandemic in their respective regions to avoid any disaster like in Bengaluru, where shortage of oxygen, hospital beds, medicines and space in crematoriums have only added to the miseries.

Several villages in Karnataka have decided on their own not to allow outsiders as means to keep them insulated from any chance of exposure to the virus.

Meanwhile, the state’s vaccination drive has also hit a roadblock amid acute shortage of doses of both Covishield and Covaxin.

“We have brought the issue of shortage of oxygen and vaccines to the government’s attention,” Gaurav Gupta, chief commissioner of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (city’s civic body), said, after participating in the video conference.