Odisha govt spent Rs 472 crore from CMRF for COVID-19 management since March: Report

The Odisha government has so far spent Rs 472.63 crores from Chief Minister Relief Fund (CMRF) for COVID-19 management in the state since March. According to an official release, 62 COVID hospitals have been established with 8,245 beds along with 1,426 ICU/HDU beds and 531 ventilators. COVID Care Centres (CCC) have also been established across the State with 16,828 beds, the release said. The govt has also assured funds for the further fight against the pandemic.

"Amount of Rs 472.63 crores has been spent from CMRF for effective COVID Management and further funds have been committed for the fight against coronavirus in the coming months," the release said.

The Hospitals set up by the state government have not only taken care of the COVID-related illnesses but also other health ailments of the COVID patients. The govt also started Plasma Therapy on a large scale to save lives amid pandemic by making the entire treatment free of cost to the patients. The Government further bears all the costs for the COVID-related medical expenditure and a major part of it comes from CMRF, the release said.

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Temporary medical camps set up for migrants from CMRF

When the pandemic broke out across the country Odisha received 9,47,417 Pravasi Odia migrants from hot spot States like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Delhi who returned back to their homes during May-July 2020. In order to provide them medical assistance a total of 16,669 Temporary medical camps (TMC) were created with 7,53,673 bed capacity across the State.

"The costs of managing the migrants from the origin states to their Panchayats, quarantine for 14-days, an incentive of Rs 2000 for quarantine, etc were all met from the CMRF. Quarantine incentive of Rs 135 crore has been disbursed. About Rs 165.5 crore utilized for various COVID management activities to manage the migrants," the release stated.

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Medical assistance for healthcare workers

The Government further provided Rs 7500 from CMRF to ensure dignified cremation/burial, considering the social stigma and the risk involved in taking care of the deceased COVID patients' bodies. Furthermore, the frontline health workers and the support staff in the hospitals have been provided financial incentives to motivate them and to recognize the risks they are taking in COVID management.

In order to support the Police the govt has spent Rs 15 cr from the CMRF to ensure proper facilities and equipment for the personnel who have been relentlessly working for the last 6 months in enforcement activities to curb the spread of the virus, the release said.

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19 cr spent to provide relief due to Lockdown

Meanwhile, to provide relief due to the Lockdown, Rs 19 crore spent to help street vendors in urban areas, including stray animals in urban areas were taken care of during the Lockdown. The Information Education and Communication (IEC) and awareness campaigns involving the community, COVID Management committees at the ward level and health workers, have been taken up on a large scale. Rs 48 crore has been spent for more than 46,000 ward-level committees in rural areas and over 2,000 ward committees in urban areas, the release said.

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(With inputs from ANI)