Lives and Livelihood on Top Priority of Odisha Government during Pandemic: CS

Bhubaneswar: Lives and livelihood of the people during the pandemic is the top priority of the government, with these key objectives , various departments today appraised the Council of Ministers on expenditure made in past four months during pandemic. `

Briefing the media about the Council of Ministers meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Secretary gave a detail break-up of the amount spent on building robust health infrastructure.

Giving detail about the testing capacity, he said, from single labs, we have went up to set up 19 labs to conduct RT-PCR tests, he said.

Throwing light on the detail expenditure, he said while Rs 340 crore has been spent from the Chief Minister Relief Fund, Rs 624 crore has been spent from State Disaster Relief Fund, Rs 73 crore from MLA LAD funds.

Similarly, PRI institutions have spent Rs 875 crore for developing critical infrastructure to fight COVID-19.

Giving detail about the huge manpower engaged in the battle against the pandemic, he said, “8,023 doctors, 8,296 staff nurses, 4,014 Ayush doctors, 8,296 lab technicians and pharmacists, 1,35,820 ASHA, Anganwadi, ANM and volunteers, 11,144 students (Ayush and MBBS), 7,236 cleaning staff, 4,900 ambulance drivers and assistants, 500 counsellors, 753 veterinary doctors and 136 veterinary paramedics have been deployed.”

Employment generation and social security measures are to get top priority. Besides, Agricultural sector will also be given priority. However, the capital expenditures in the non-priority sectors will be curtailed, he said.