Puducherry, Apr 27 (PTI) The Puducherry government has stressed the need for vaccinating all eligible people in the union territory to protect them against Covid-19.

"Vaccination is the immediate necessity and focused attention should be paid on vaccination with the cooperation of the private enterprises in the Union Territory," a release from office of Lt Governor highlighting the decisions taken at a consultative meeting Monday night pointed out.

As many as 10 lakh people were eligible for the vaccination and once this is accomplished, Puducherry would emerge as a 'Covid free State' and would set an example for the country as a whole, it said.

The meeting chaired by Tamilisai Soundararajan also called upon private enterprises and institutions to contribute liberally for effective steps to control the spread of the scourge here under corporate social responsibility scheme.

It also appealed to managements of the industrial establishments and undertakings to initiate immediate steps to inoculate the workers in their institutions.

Committees comprising representatives of resident welfare associations, voluntary organizations and social outfits should be formed to take care of those in home isolation and to supply vegetables and food to the pandemic- stricken people in home quarantines.

Privately managed medical colleges and their hospitals should be persuaded to strengthen the beds and each of the seven colleges should add 10 more beds in the wards to accommodate the Covid hit patients.

The meeting also decided that posting of doctors, nurses and technical personnel should be taken up as expeditiously as possible.

Fishermen remaining jobless because of the ban on fishing in the Bay of Bengal now in force would be provided relief.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of Excise T Sudhakar said an order was issued directing all liquor, arrack and toddy shops to shut business till midnight of April 30 in the Union Territory in view of the unprecedented rise in number of fresh cases of Covid 19.

The territorial government has brought into force a night curfew from Monday and it would be in place from 10 pm to 5 am the next day till April 30.

The government has tightened restrictions and has permitted only essential services to function.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)