Bengaluru, Jul 9: Alarmed over surging COVID-19 cases, the Karnataka government has decided to divide this tech city into containment zones to curb the spread of the pandemic, a state minister said on Thursday.
"The city will be divided into red, orange and yellow zones in commensurate with the number of Covid cases in them for containing the virus spread on war footing," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy told reporters here.
Cabinet ministers representing assembly segments in the city will be in-charge of the zones to ensure the cases are curbed with strict enforcement of lockdown guidelines, especially wearing mask and maintaining social distancing by the people in the confinement areas.
"Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has convened a meeting of ministers, MLAs, MPs and corporators of all the 198 civic wards across the city on Friday to discuss and draw an action plan to contain the pandemic," said Madhuswamy.
With 1,148 positive cases, the city''s Covid tally rose to 12,509 and active to 10,103, while 2,228 were discharged, including 418 on Wednesday, while 177 succumbed to the infection since March 9, with 23 in the last 24 hours.
"The Chief Minister ordered deploying more ambulances in the containment areas where cases have been spiking daily to rush Covid patients to the nearest hospital for immediate treatment," said Madhuswamy.
The city civic corporation -- Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) --has increased the containment zones to 3,181 due to more cases spiking, with southern and western suburbs accounting for most infections.
"The containment zones are concentrated more in the city''s southern and western suburbs. Active cases doubled over the last 8 days and shot up to a whopping 12,509 from 4,555 on June 30," an official said.
Refuting graft charges by opposition Congress leader Siddaramaiah in the purchase of medical equipment for treatment of Covid patients, Madhuswamy said the state government had not spent more than Rs 600 crore so far.
"We are running a government. Not a private office. We will give account. He (Siddaramaiah) is welcome to check the accounts and verify the documents," asserted the minister.
In a related development, the cabinet also approved an ordinance to increase the state contingency fund to Rs 500 crore from Rs 80 crore for the Covid-19 induced economic relief measures announced by the chief minister in June.
Comments
An Indian Haj subsidy that did not exist!
Thank you Prime Minister Modi for ending Haj subsidy that never existed.
I completely welcome this move making the announcement, minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said: “We believe in empowerment without appeasement.”Naqvi did not elaborate what he meant by “appeasement” but for decades, Haj subsidy remained a whip in the hands of right-wing parties to attack political rivals. Bharatiya Janata Party to embarrass rivals by accusing them of “appeasing” Muslims by subsiding expenses involved in the pilgrimage to Makkah and Madina. Angered by this attack, several Muslims have been demanding an end to the subsidy.
However, it is important to understand what this subsidy was and whether Muslims actually benefitted from it. In 2016-17, the government budgeted Rs 4.5 billion subsidy for around 100,000 Muslims who performed Haj last year. Each pilgrim paid around Rs 220,000 (amount varies each year) for airfare; stay in Makkah and Madina and for miscellaneous expenses. This money is paid to government-managed Haj committees which then transfers this money to other agencies. In other words, each Muslim pays for his/her own Haj expenses.
A significant chunk of money paid by Muslims goes to India’s government-owned national carrier Air India which enjoys a virtual monopoly on Haj circuit. The airline picks up passengers from around a dozen cities and flies them to Jeddah. The Air India inflates India-Jeddah tickets during the Haj season. This so-called government subsidy is used to pay for tickets that are always higher than the prevailing airfare charged by other airlines. A breakdown would show that an Air India ticket to Jeddah would cost more than a trip to Los Angeles from India. Essentially, the government takes money from one pocket and puts it back in another. Muslim have always demanded global tenders for Haj flights and for providing accommodation in Makkah and Madina..
However, while Naqvi sought to take a high moral ground by claiming that his party appeases no section of the society, his own government spends billions of rupees on organizing Hindu pilgrimages every year
Naqvi saab, this is what you learnt in Madrasa? U r Back-Stabbing Muslims. There is no 1% quality of muslim in you. After joining BJP you have lost it. First learn humanity. Almighty will give answers for all problems you have created for others.
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