State Government to provide incentive of Rs 2000 per month to sanitary workers of ULBs

All the sanitary workers working in the Urban Local Bodies including Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils, Nagar Parishads and Nagar Panchayats would be provided an incentive of Rs 2000 per month for the month of April, May and June, 2021, keeping in view the vital services they are rendering in maintaining proper hygiene and sanitation in the urban areas. This was announced by the Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur while virtually addressing the elected members of Urban Local Bodies in the State from Shimla today.

Chief Minister urged the representatives of Urban Local Bodies to remain in constant contact with the family members of the person in home isolation due to Covid-19 in their respective areas so that they do not face any difficulty and also get proper medical counselling and treatment. He said that they should also ensure that the people voluntarily come forward for getting themselves tested as it has been found that delay in going to hospital leads to deterioration of the condition and increase in number of deaths. He said that the people must also be motivated to come forward for vaccination. He also urged the representatives of the Urban Local Bodies to maintain better coordination with the health department for ensuring check spread of this pandemic.

Jai Ram Thakur said that the elected representatives of the Urban Local Bodies must also ensure that they not only motivate the people of their respective areas to strictly follow the guidelines and SoPs issued by the State Government from time to time, but also come forward to ensure that in case of unfortunate death of a Covid-19 patients, the last rites of the deceased were performed as per the protocol. He said that the State Government was also considering to provide PPE kits to nearest health institutions so that they could provide the same to the people so that last rites could be performed as per the protocol.

Chief Minister urged the representatives of Urban Local Bodies to come forward to help the needy at the time of distress. He said that steps must be taken to ensure that the migrate labour do not face any inconvenience and were motivated to stay back. He said that the representatives must also keep an eye on the people visiting their areas from other parts of the country. He said that they must be motivated to go for RT-PCR tests if they have any symptoms and also remain in home quarantine for atleast ten days. He said that the elected representatives must come forward to distribute face masks, hand sanitizers and food kits to the poor and needy. He said that the sanitary workers must be provided proper protection gears to ensure that they do not catch infection.

Jai Ram Thakur said that the sharp surge in the number of Covid-19 cases was a matter of concern. He said that the spread of this virus was faster in urban areas, thus it becomes vital for the ULBs to frame a strategy to check spread of this virus. He said that the pandemic has adversely affected the world economy, but the most important was to save the precious lives of the people. He said that the State Government has implemented Corona Curfew in the entire State to break the chain of this virus. He said that the vaccination process was also going on in the State smoothly. He said that vaccination for the people between the age group of 18 to 44 years would be started from 17^th of this month. He said that the vaccination would be provided on first come first serve basis and the people would have to register themselves for vaccination. He said that the role of ULBs was also vital in ensuring that this campaign also goes smoothly in the State.

Urban Development Minister Suresh Bhardwaj said that the representatives of the ULBs could play a vital role in helping the people in home isolation. He thanked the Chief Minister for sparing his time for interacting with the elected representatives of ULBs in the State. He said that the Chief Minister has personally visited all the districts of the State to review to Covid-19 situation in the State. He said that the ULBs must also come forward to help the family members of the deceased in performing the last rites. He urged the Chief Minister to ask the State Forest Corporation to provide free wood for cremation of the deceased.

Principal Secretary Urban Development Rajneesh while welcoming the Chief Minister in the video conference said that all the newly elected representatives of the Urban Local Bodies have effectively and pro-actively worked to check spread of corona virus in their respective areas. He said that the sanitary workers were ensuring that proper sanitization and disinfection was maintained in the ULBs by the sanitary workers of the Department. He said that the State Government was also ensuring that the Mukhya Mantri Shahri Aajivaka Yojna was being effectively implemented in the urban areas of the State.

Director Urban Development Abid Hussain Sadiq welcomed the Chief Minister and conducted the virtual meeting.

Mayors and Deputy Mayors of Municipal Corporations, Chairmen, Vice Chairmen and councillors of Nagar Parishads, and Nagar Panchayats, CEO and Commissioners of the Municipal Corporation attended the meeting virtually and also gave their valuable suggestions on the occasion. They also urged the Chief Minister to increase the Corona Curfew by atleast a week so that the chain of the virus could be effectively broken.

OSD to the Chief Minister Shishu Dharma, Advisor to the Chief Minister Dr. R.N. Batta, were present on the occasion at Shimla among others.

Also See:

• CM urges religious organisations to come forward in serving humanity
• Dr. Harsh Vardhan reviews Public Health Response to COVID-19 and Progress of Vaccination with 6 States/UT