Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Friday chaired a video-conference of collectors to review the COVID-19 situation in Tamil Nadu. He also held a virtual meeting with public health and medical experts.
An official release said he instructed the officials to ensure immediate draining of water stagnated in rural and urban areas owing to the recent rain. “It should not lead to [mosquito breeding and] dengue menace because it would lead to a situation wherein it would difficult to ascertain whether fever was a symptom of COVID-19 or dengue. Disinfectants should be used frequently...,” he said.
Mr. Palaniswami said the weekly public grievances redressal meetings, usually held on Mondays by the collectors, could be resumed. These meetings were suspended after the pandemic broke out. The district administration and the Education Department should coordinate to ensure that there is no spread of COVID-19 among school students attending in-person classes, he said.
Thanks to the review meetings held by the government, involving the district administration and the Health Department, the spread of COVID-19 has mostly been controlled, he said. “These efforts have resulted in some districts reporting not even a single case,” he said.
He also instructed collectors to distribute long-pending house pattas to applicants immediately. Officials were asked to speed up the process to assess the losses suffered by farmers in the recent cyclones.
Report handed over
The Special Investment Promotion Task Force (SIPTF), constituted by the State government to attract investments from countries looking to relocate their supply chains to India due to COVID-19, submitted its report to Mr. Palaniswami, in the Secretariat.
Chief Secretary K. Shanmugam, who led the SIPTF, handed over the report to Mr. Palaniswami. Industries Secretary N. Muruganandam and Special Secretary in the Industries Department V. Arun Roy were present.
The Terms of Reference of the committee included identifying sectors in which Tamil Nadu could attract investments due to likely relocation of supply chains from other countries after COVID-19, and formulating special incentive packages and facilitations, necessary to attract them.
Identifying key infrastructure projects, including dedicated industrial townships that have to be undertaken or expedited to attract investments, identifying measures to fast-track clearances to promote investments and recommending outreach activities and brand building to position Tamil Nadu as an attractive investment destination were among the ToRs of the committee.
Though Tamil Nadu was already a favoured investment destination and well placed to attract investments, it needs to take pro-active steps to attract them, the government order issued to constitute the committee had stated.
