Chandigarh April 8: Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal has urged leaders of all religions to work collectively to deal with the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the State. He said that as a disease does not differentiate between any caste and religion, all the religious leaders should disseminate the message of social distancing and make people aware about the preventive measures being taken to prevent the spread of COIVD-19. While giving the mantra of 3-S, that is, 'Stay at Home, Social Distancing and Sanitation' to prevent the spread of Novel Corona Virus, he said that while ramping up its preparations to combat COVID-19, the State Government has placed order for 5 crore news masks.
Mr Manohar Lal was interacting with about 300 religious leaders including those of Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Jain etc of all districts of the State through video conferencing here today.
He urged the religious leaders that if any person has symptoms of COVID-19, then they should convince him/her to come forward and undergo necessary tests as this way the chain spreading corona virus could be broken. He patiently heard the suggestions of religious leaders and assured them that their sentiments would be duly taken care of.
The Chief Minister said that earlier today he also held an all-party meeting with the representatives of different political parties through video-conferencing and they extended their wholehearted support in this time of crisis. He said that apart from donating their one month salary to Corona Relief Fund, all the MLAs had also offered 30 per cent cut in their salaries for the next one year. Besides, they had also decided not to take annual grant of Rs 2 crore admissible to them under the 'Vidhayak Adarsh Gram Yojana'. Similarly, all the Ministers also decided to donate more than half of their discretionary quota.
While referring to the issue of religious gathering in Nizamuddin area of National Capital, he said there was nothing wrong to have such type of congregations as it was a routine event but they should have been more cautious in the wake of Corona virus threat. He urged the people belonging to the community to remain quarantined irrespective of the fact that they were affected from Corona or not. In case of any symptoms, they should immediately contact the doctors and get all necessary tests done. He said that some people were not coming forward due to fear or social stigma but doing so they were endangering their own life as well as that of the others adding that strict action would be taken against such persons under the relevant act.
He said that the State Government had also taken a serious view of the incident of rumors being spread on the social media. He said that such rumour mongers would be taken to task and FIRs would be registered against them for spreading hatred in the society through fake messages.
Underlining the significance of religious organizations in awakening the society, he exhorted them to propagate the Mantra of 3-S and said that this would be able to defeat the pandemic as at present there is no proven medical treatment available to cure this disease. He also urged the religious organizations to help the poor people in this time of crisis by engaging their followers in various social works like distribution of food items, ration etc. He said that these organizations should also contribute generously to the Corona Relief Fund set up by the State Government to effectively combat COVID-19. He also thanked various organizations that had contributed wholeheartedly to the fund.
The Chief Minister said that Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi had stated that “Jaan hai to Jahan Hai”, and following this, the State Government had ensured that no poor in the State was deprived of food. He said that a financial assistance of Rs 1000 per week was being transferred into the bank accounts of poor and those belonging to Below Poverty Line. Apart from this, a provision of double ration had been made for the Pink, Yellow and Khaki card holders on the Fair Price Shops of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department under the Public Distribution System. He said that at present five Helplines were operational in the State to address the problems being faced by the people during the lock down.
Mr Manohar Lal said that in view of the upcoming festivals and auspicious days, people should refrain from any kind of gatherings and celebrate these occasions at their home with their family members.