BIG move amid Coronavirus: J&K to pay Rs 1,000 each to 3.5 lakh construction workers

Jammu and Kashmir Principal Secretary Planning Rohit Kansal on Wednesday said that Rs 1,000 each will be provided to 3.5 lakh workers registered with the Building and Construction Workers Welfare Board in Jammu and Kashmir. He said that two instalments of old age, disability and family pensions will be immediately released. He added that 7.7 lakh pensioners will benefit and all 1.7 lakh pending applicants will also be additionally covered.

Four new positive cases reported from Kashmir

Four more persons tested positive for Coronavirus in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, taking the number of cases to 11, a senior official said. "Four new positive cases have been reported from Kashmir. All of them are from Bandipora district," Bhupinder Singh, Director of National Health Mission and in charge of measures on COVID-19, told reporters in Jammu. 

He said that the new patients had come in contact with a person who had tested positive. The case was reported from Srinagar on Tuesday. As per a government bulletin on Wednesday, in Jammu and Kashmir, as many as 5,124 travellers and people who came in contact with suspected and positive cases have been put under surveillance.

'The news report is not true'

Among them, 3,061 are in-home quarantine (including facilities operated by the government), 80 in hospital quarantine and 1,477 in-home surveillance.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday refuted reports of the restoration of 4G services in Jammu and Kashmir. The statement said, "Neither the Ministry of Home Affairs nor the Government of Jammu and Kashmir has issued any such orders. The news report is not true."

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According to the Health Ministry, the total number of positive COVID-19 cases in India reached 606, including 43 foreign nationals. The country confirmed 12th death due to coronavirus after an 85-year-old woman from Gujarat died on Wednesday. 

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India has been put under complete lockdown for 21 days. All public transport have been banned while any kind of non-essential movement outside the house has also been prohibited. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the big announcement on Tuesday night and said that this is the only way India can fight coronavirus.

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(With agency inputs)