Call for people’s movement to combat pandemic

New Chief Secretary says fight against COVID-19 is far from over

Chief Secretary Vishwas Mehta, who assumed charge on Monday, has called for a people’s movement to combat the COVID-19 scourge.

Immediately after assuming charge, Mr. Mehta said the police might find it challenging to assign an officer to every home, which had people in quarantine.

Members of the neighbourhood watch, volunteers and elected office-bearers of local self-government institutions should forge themselves as a bulwark against the spread of the virus.

The fight against COVID-19 was far from over and might intensify with the resumption of land, air and sea travel.

Severe challenge

Kerala faced a particularly severe challenge in preventing the transmission of the disease given the influx of arrivals from within the country and outside.

Individual citizens should view wearing masks, maintaining physical distance and following the health protocol as part of their civic responsibility.

The State also needed to tread cautiously so as not to cause new flare-ups when the economy opened up, free travel resumed, and life shuffled back to normalcy.

Kerala also could not allow the pandemic to disrupt its “priority projects”. Pandemic prevention and the State’s development had to go hand-in-hand, he said.

(The Government had prioritised the completion of GAIL pipeline project, the piped supply of cooking gas to households and affordable fibre optic cable supported high-speed and seamless internet connectivity to homes and business. The construction of the high-speed Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod rail corridor (532 km) was another prime concern. The proposed rail connectivity could reduce travel time and open up the hinterlands of the State for development. The government has also given precedence to the construction of industrial level and environment-friendly garbage disposal and sewage treatment plants across Kerala).

Tom Jose praised

Mr. Mehta praised his predecessor Tom Jose for the resilience and administrative insight he had shown as Chief Secretary in the past “tumultuous” 23-month period.

He hoped to continue from where Mr. Jose had left and would strive to live up to the legacy of his predecessor.