Vibrant Gujarat Summit postponed as COVID-19 cases rise

Event was scheduled to be held between January 10 and 12

Vibrant Gujarat 9th Global Summit 2019 at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, 2019. File

The Gujarat government has decided to postpone its flagship event, the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, scheduled on January 10-12, in the wake of rising cases of COVID-19. It was to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the presence of his counterparts from Nepal and Russia and a few other countries.

“Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has taken a decision to postpone the summit after a comprehensive review of the emerging situation,” a government release stated.

According to sources in the Secretariat, as the COVID-19 cases have been steadily rising, the administration needs to give its undivided attention to tackle the pandemic and to ensure that the situation does not go out of control and the virus does not overwhelm the medical infrastructure.

After the government announced to call off the summit, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) called off a flower show that’s held annually in January at the Sabarmati riverfront. It announced the launch of a special drive to test people in residential societies in the areas from where the cases have been reported.

As many as 26 countries had agreed to partner with the event in which hundreds of diplomats, policymakers, business tycoons and top officials from the Government of India were scheduled to participate in the event that was to be held at Mahatma Mandir exhibition centre in Gandhinagar.

Inauguration by PM

As per an elaborate schedule, the Prime Minister was scheduled to inaugurate the event on January 10 and attend a conclave of top CEOs at GIFT City in Gandhinagar the next day.

The State government and the entire administration was involved in the preparations for the main event and a series of others along the sidelines of the summit.

However, the plans went awry given the rise in COVID-19 cases. Also, the government sensed that it would not be possible to adhere to crowd management norms and follow protocols with thousands of people in attendance.

In the past three days, a number of top bureaucrats and political leaders, including a Minister, have tested positive.

On Thursday; Gujarat recorded 4,213 cases, increasing the tally of active cases to reach nearly 14,346. There are 28 patients on ventilator support. So far, a total of 204 Omicron cases have been reported from the State.