Meghalaya spent Rs 200 crore to fight COVID-19: CM

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaSeptember 25, 2020

The state government has estimated to have spent over Rs 200 crores in tackling the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma, the prevailing situation due to coronavirus has put a lot of financial burden on the government.

“Yes, there has been a lot of pressure (financially). We have spent Rs 200 crore in the last 9 months. There has been a lot of financial involvement and it is something we cannot escape,”Sangma told reporters after a joint review meeting held between the state government and the opposition members on Friday.

Admitting that it is a tough battle, the chief minister however said his government is committed to fight the pandemic in the best possible manner and is working on how to improve things.

On the other hand, Sangma said that his government would also examine the pros and cons in other states where they have made it mandatory for people to pay for COVID-19 test.

“We have to see how we could slowly start managing things where we could reduct expenditures. For example, a lot of the states have made it mandatory for people to pay for testing but for our state despite the situation, we are not charging – so all these aspects are there and we need to examine the pros and cons in that expenditure,” he said.

On the other hand, the chief minister said the message to the people from such a joint meeting is that when it comes to a situation like this “we all are going to work together whether are part of the ruling or the opposition – our responsibility is to ensure we work as a team and take it positively to ensure we fight this.”

He reminded that the COVID-19 is not a fight of the government or the legislature alone but it is a fight where the society has to come together.

“It is only when people and society start responding and start taking this as a serious issue and start following basic protocols, we will be able to fight this to a large extent as most probably it is the only vaccine. The behavioural change and long term adaptation is the only way to fight it,” he said.

Welcoming the suggestions given by the opposition members during the meeting, Sangma assured that suggestions would be incorporated to improve the delivery mechanism as far as fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic is concerned.

Asked, he informed that the members have expressed different shortcomings that are there adding “We have made our point very simply that during the past nine months, the government as a whole has been involved in fighting this. Therefore, there could be an element of fatigueness among the individuals, among the system and there could have been situations where there could have been slips.”

“I think the overall management in the state, the numbers that have come out and looking at the additional steps and measures we take including registration, closing of gates inspite of messages from Centre on this reflects the fact that we have gone that extra mile in trying to fight this,” the chief minister further stated.

He said most probably there is no such perfect system but what is important is to keep improving it.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition, Mukul Sangma has stressed the need to minimize the number of casualties and to prevent further spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in the state.

He said besides the measures put in place by the government, there is a need for the community to actively participate in this process.

Urging the government to make course correction, the former chief minister said, “While dealing with this kind of challenges, there is need for course correction as there is no perfect model as such and at the same time in areas where we are seen to be letting our guard down will have to really look at and see we have that course correction.”

He cited that overcrowding in the banks, offices in different districts and blocks need to be corrected by the government to prevent further spread of the disease.