Had center suspended Int'l flights on time, situation would have been different: CM Bhupesh Baghael

Slamming the centre over the delay in suspending the international flights, CM of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Bagheal, while addressing a press briefing through video-conferencing said that if the centre had taken the decision of suspending international flights and to quarantine all the passengers who have come from other countries on right time, then the situation in India might have been different.

New Delhi:In wake of Coronavirus pandemic, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Bhupesh Baghel, on Thursday, accused the Union Government of not taking the "right decision" of suspending international flight services on time for prevention of the outbreak of COVID-19 in India.

While addressing a press briefing via video conferencing Chhattisgarh CM said, "This disease did not originate from India. It has come to India from other countries. If the centre had taken the right decision on the right time of suspending international flights and to quarantine all the passengers who have come from other countries, then the situation of our nation might have been different."

His statement came in the reply of a question raised to him regarding the issue of Tablighi Jamaat, relating to which a number of corona positive cases have been found in various states. He said, "this pandemic is not related to any caste or religion. I'm not saying that those people are not at fault but the centre

could've controlled the entire situation as a number of people who've come from different countries, had participated in Tablighi Jamaat."

A total number of 5734 cases Corona positive cases have been found in India till date. However, Chhattisgarh is one of the states which had worked effectively to fight against this pandemic. CM Baghael said that as suggested by Rahul Gandhi, their government was very active from the first week and they decided to announce lockdown much before it was announced by the centre. He said that it was the only reason why they became successful to prevent the spreading of this virus in other areas of the state.

"As soon as Congress former President Rahul Gandhi expressed his concern about the subject we started preparing for Chhattisgarh. On March 13, we first closed educational institutions, malls, Talkies and Ministries. The first test was conducted on 15th March and we got the first positive case on 18th March. On the same day, we imposed Section 144 in the entire state and on March 21, we announced lockdown," he explained.

On Supreme Court's decision, Baghel suggested that the Union Government should take over the expenses of COVID-19 testing from Private labs so that it's rate can be increased rapidly all over India. He also mentioned that a few cases have been found in the state where no symptoms of Coronavirus have been found in the patient.

He said, "soon, we are also going to start random sampling of people for COVID-19. At present, about 76000 people are in the home quarantine in Chhattisgarh and we are properly monitoring them. We have completely sealed the state borders and also closed the boundaries of districts."

He also informed that people from lower-middle-income groups are helping in this period of crisis for whom the state government has started a new initiative, 'donation on wheels'. The state govt has started 6 trains in Raipur for this initiative and around 25000 people have donated 17,000 packets of essential items in just 2 days.

For migrant labourers and farmers, CM Bhupesh Baghel urged the Center to provide at least an amount of ₹750, rather than ₹500, in the Jan-Dhan accounts. He also suggested that the payment should be done for each member of the family.

On the extension of lockdown, he said that the final decision would be taken after consulting it with PM Modi in the upcoming meeting with all state CMs, via video conferencing. He also slammed the Union Government for not consulting with the states prior to the announcement of nationwide lockdown.

He said, "earlier, the centre did not consult any of the states before announcing nationwide lockdown, which created a panic among people. I hope that this time, they wouldn't repeat the mistake."