At the helm of India’s most populous State, Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath details his government’s strategy to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and ensure the revival of the economy post the lockdown in an email interview.
UP is one of the most populous states in India, what has been your strategy in combating the challenge of COVID19, so far?
There is no doubt that Uttar Pradesh is the largest state in the country in terms of population and in such a situation the battle with COVID-19 becomes even more challenging. We worked hard to turn every challenge into an opportunity. As soon as alarm about the coronavirus was sounded, our government started taking some rapid measures.
In the first week of March, on the call of Hon’ble Prime Minister, we started the proceedings for prevention of corona. Special programmes for training of physicians, paramedical and nursing staff etc. were ensured. The Panchayati Raj, Rural Development and Urban Development Departments were directed to conduct comprehensive awareness programmes. We formed 11 committees. For the citizens of Uttar Pradesh residing in other States, 32 nodal officers were deployed (16 IAS, 16 IPS). Through the CM Helpline 1076, we asked the village heads to communicate and make people aware of the virus in the villages.
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On March 24 itself, we took action to send an amount of ₹1000 through RTGS to the accounts of more than 21 lakh construction workers under the Workers’ Maintenance Scheme. Thus, we were the first to provide relief to the people who depend on their daily wages. Secondly, starting from a single testing lab, today there are 14, and we are doing 2,500 tests daily. With this, Uttar Pradesh is the first State to do pool testing.
We are manufacturing PPE kits, masks, and sanitizers in Uttar Pradesh. This is the reason that the situation in Uttar Pradesh is very much under control today. Our 27 districts are already corona free, including Pilibhit which is now free from corona. Two cases were found there but today there is not a single case of corona there. This would not have been possible without the support of corona warriors and the public.