COVID-19: DCPs, Delhi govt hospitals, municipal corporations to now work under command of DMs

All heads of Delhi government hospitals, deputy commissioners of municipal corporations and DCPs of city police will now work under the command of district magistrates to effectively deal with the COVID-19 situation in the national capital.

Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev, who is also chairperson of the state executive committee of Delhi Disaster Management Authority, has empowered all district magistrates (DMs) to have overall command in their respective districts and different authorities will have to implement their orders.

The move comes after Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with Lt Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday to discuss the strategy to tackle the surging coronavirus cases.

According to an order issued by Dev, all DMs will work as administrative heads for management and supervision of all activities related to COVID-19.

"There shall be unified command and control in the district and therefore, all the DCPs of Delhi Police, deputy commissioners of municipal corporations, all district heads of other departments and heads of all government hospitals of GNCT of Delhi shall report to the respective district magistrate and shall function under their command, control and supervision for management of COVID-19 pandemic," the order stated.

It also said that the performance of all district level officers, including DCPs and DCs of municipal corporations, will be assessed by the respective district magistrate.

"The district magistrate is responsible for overall management of COVID-19 pandemic... and shall implement all the guidelines, SOPs, orders and directions of DDMA, Ministry of Home Affairs and National Disaster Management Authority," it added.

The chief secretary said all the departments of Delhi government, autonomous bodies, local bodies and Delhi Police will ensure strict compliance of this order.

On Tuesday, the death toll from COVID-19 in the national capital surged to 1,837, while 1,859 fresh coronavirus cases took the tally in the city to over 44,000-mark.