Govt to spend Rs 5 Cr for setting up of COVID-19 Management Unit

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaAugust 14, 2020

The Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government has decided to sanction Rs 5 crore for the setting up of a state COVID-19 Management Unit (CMU) to effectively combat against the spread of the pandemic in the state.

The proposal was approved by the state Cabinet chaired by the Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, MDA spokesperson, James K Sangma said, “The cabinet has approved the proposal for setting up of a CMU and the budgetary requirement totaling to Rs 5.5 crore.”   

He said this was felt because the current programme management unit under the National Health Mission (NHM) is already overburdened with the management of the numerous central schemes.

Sangma also said the role of the CMU would be to man the entry points for registration of all civilians entering into the state, for data collection and management, to monitor disease trends, for management of the quarantine and corona care centres and for detection and response to disease outbreaks.

He further informed that the CMU would be headed by the Mission Director of the NHM in overseeing the functioning of the state COVID Cell for management and surveillance of COVID-19 in the state.

He said, this dedicated COVID Cell would place its efforts on identifying preventive measures to reduce the chances of infection.

Sangma said the proposal also consists of dedicated teams at the four major entry points for sampling, registration of civilians entering the state and also dedicated teams to manage the selected quarantine and corona care centres.