GM Nagar DM directs factories to pay all workers by April 7

The new district magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar has again asked factories and industries to pay salaries to all their employees by April 7. There are 8 lakh workers

The new district magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar has again asked factories and industries to pay salaries to all their employees by April 7. There are 8 lakh workers in the district, of whom 6 lakh work in the nearly 4,500 small and big factories in the district.

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“We have spoken to establishments to ensure that all workers are paid by April 7. We have told them that no employee’s salary should be cut because of the ongoing lockdown in view of Covid-19 spread. We have already deposited ₹1,000 in the accounts of 11,893 registered labourers, 1,750 labourers attached to the nagar palikas and panchayats and 1,076 labours under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005,” district magistrate Suhas LY said.

Former district magistrate BN Singh had last week passed an order that no landlord will ask for rent from tenants who are daily wagers or employed with essential services maintenance agencies for a month. This was done to stop the mass exodus of migrant workers to their native lands.

Officials are trying to maintain the supply of essential goods in the district and have got a stock of 200 tonnes of wheat flour. By Friday, officials will get 500 tonnes of flour to ensure that there is no shortage during the lockdown.

“We are holding meetings with officials attached with markets to fix prices of vegetables and fruits. We have enough stock of essential food items and people need not resort to panic buying,” Suhas said.

The administration is also going to start a call centre to keep track of people who have been put under home quarantine and to help people who often mistake the common cold and cough for Covid-19 symptoms.

“By Friday, we are expecting to start our new advanced call centre to trace contact points of infected persons. Our trained staff and doctors will be available to address grievances of people. Our doctors will help people in identifying symptoms of Covid-19 and to clear their doubts. We will give out the helpline number once all the arrangements are in place,” the DM said.

The health department has also come up with 14 rapid reaction teams to immediately reach out to people who are infected with Sars-CoV-2 virus or any other medical urgency. Each team will have two officials and dedicated vehicles have been given to them.

On Wednesday, the Government Institute of Medical Sciences in Greater Noida and the Super Speciality Children’s Hospital in Sector 30 faced a shortage of medical and protection kits. “We have now got 512 Viral Transport Media kits, 1,100 personal protection equipment kits, 1,513 N95 masks and 5,000 triple layer masks with us. We have enough arrangements for now,” Suhas said.

Currently, there are 48 Covid-19 patients in the district, of whom 6 have been discharged while 42 are undergoing treatment at the Government Institute of Medical Sciences and the Super Speciality Children’s Hospital.

“We have 48 ventilators on standby and currently all patients are doing fine so none of it is in use. There are 42 patients undergoing treatment in the district and we have a capacity of 340 beds, including 100 at the Sharda Hospital in Greater Noida,” the DM said.