India News | Maha Government Not Helping Weaker Sections in Crisis: BJP
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Maha Vikas Aghadi government is not providing any financial aid to the weaker sections of society hit hard by the lockdown unlike the Centre which is helping the poor, state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil alleged on Wednesday.
Pune, Jul 1 (PTI) The Maha Vikas Aghadi government is not providing any financial aid to the weaker sections of society hit hard by the lockdown unlike the Centre which is helping the poor, state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil alleged on Wednesday.
Patil demanded the the Maharashtra government announce a financial package for 'bara balutedars' and other workers such as maids, owners of salons and barber shops, rickshaw drivers etc.
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'Bara Balutedars' is a term used to describe various constituents of the traditional village economy, including artisans.
"While PM Narendra Modi is helping the people with open hands, the state government is not announcing any aid for bara balutedars, domestic maids, vegetable vendors, rickshaw drivers, barbers and others in the current times," Patil said in an online press conference.
The former revenue minister said the state should rope in social organisations to manage asymptomatic COVID-19 patients so that beds in hospitals remain available for critical patients.
"Asymptomatic and moderately symptomatic patients should be treated at a non-hospitalfacility. Currently, even moderately symptomatic patients are occupying beds in big hospitals," Patil said.
Patil said a facility in his constituency Kothrud can be turned into a para hospital if the Pune civic body grants permission.
He said the facility can accommodate 350 beds where symptomatic and moderately symptomatic patients can be kept.
Patil said that except medical supervision, other expenses can be taken care of at such facility.
"I am not saying that outfits associated with the BJP should only getthe permission to set up such facilities. Let the ruling NCP or Shiv Sena do it," he said.
Patil said they had procured one lakh small bottles of homoeopathic medicine for distribution in Kolhapur, his home district, and Pune.
"We had procured the drug at the rate of Rs 2 per small bottle, however, the state government is procuring the same for Rs 23 (per small bottle). A tender has been submitted," he said, adding that the medicine can be purchased through Corporate Social Responsibility Fund (CSR).
Patil said Kolhapur Zilla Parishad had purchased 1.25 lakh PPE kits at the rate of Rs 1,600 per unit as against the rate of Rs 400.
"In COVID centres in Mumbai, the rent of a standing fan for a period of two months is Rs 2,000, but the same fan can be purchased at Rs 1,000," he added.
Patil demanded that the state government release a white paper detailing the expenses incurred on management of the COVID-19 pandemic. PTI SPK NSK NSK 07012214 NNNNse are the joys. Camaraderie with several people I sit with as a season ticket holder for more than a quarter century. The pre-match rituals, the pub for a couple looseners (or not, in the event my teenage son, who has gone off the game in the last few years, accompanies me — a rare treat).
Then on Thursday, a win — but dreary watching nonetheless. I'll keep watching the matches every few days as the league races to complete the interrupted season. But let's not kid ourselves: Like so much else, this was a financial decision as lockdowns are eased across the world to resuscitate flatlining economies.
Hundreds of millions in various currencies are at stake for the monstrous cash-cow brand; global TV rights are in the balance.
But the first ''home"" game of the pandemic rest-of-season this week will feel especially soulless to view denuded of fans and denuded of me. And I cannot even fathom when it will cease to be insanity to attend an event with some 60,000 other people again.
Memories fortify. Maybe Humphrey Bogart's Rick was right in ''Casablanca'': "We'll always have ...'' ___
Virus Diary, an occasional feature, showcases the coronavirus pandemic through the eyes of Associated Press journalists around the world. See previous entries here. AP
(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)