There won’t be any dearth of essential commodities during the lockdown: Government 

Violation of lockdown will invite stringent action: CS

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The State government has spelt it out in clear terms that any violation of the 21-day lockdown that began from midnight on Tuesday is punishable under the Disaster Management Act. The government has also assured the people of the State that there won’t be any dearth of essential commodities in the State during the lockdown.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, State Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna said, “Those who’ve come from outside the State have been stamped on their hands. They’ve also been asked to keep themselves home quarantined. All Deputy Commissioners (DCs) have been asked to monitor this. Village Defence Parties (VDPs), gaonburhas and ASHA workers have also been observing them. If they come out of their houses, stringent action will be taken against them under the Disaster Management Act.”

Barring essential services, if anybody violates the lockdown, he/she will only invite unnecessary peril for them.

On the availability of essential commodities in the State, the Chief Secretary said, “We’ve 3,09,000 metric tonnes (MT) of rice in stock – enough for three months. Apart from the present stock of pulses in the State, 10,000 MT is set to be supplied by the NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd); 5,000 MT of sugar is also coming to the State. While 12 train rakes of essential commodities have already arrived in Tinsukia on Wednesday, similar number of rakes of such commodities are set to arrive on Thursday.”

Krishna further said, “Grocery shops will remain open, so will fish and meat shops. The Deputy Commissioners have been asked to supply the essential commodities in areas without grocery shops. There may be scarcity of a few items because this is a critical time. We appeal to the people who face scarcity of essential commodities to contact the district-level control rooms or the control rooms of the District Disaster Management Authority. There is adequate stock of LPG in the State. We’re contemplating on procuring vegetables from the sources and making them available in the grocery shops. ”

On some people who are along the Assam-West Bengal border where they have been stranded because of the lockdown, the Chief Secretary said, “We’ve asked the Deputy Commissioners of the districts to bring them to Assam and keep them quarantined there for 14 days. The State government will bear the expenditure.”

He said, “Some health workers who went for health check-up of others have been barred from entering the premises of many apartments in the State. We’ll take action against apartment owners if such incidents recur.”

When asked on the hawkers not distributing newspapers in the State, the Chief Secretary said, “The Kamrup (M) DC had a meeting with the newspaper hawkers’ association on Tuesday. They had agreed to distribute newspapers only to step back in the evening. They say that many apartments don’t allow newspaper hawkers to enter their premises over COVID threat.”

When asked on the plight of daily-wage earners, he said, “The government will take a policy decision later. The Chief Minister has been reviewing the situation on a daily basis.”

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