Telangana government asks Centre to offer tax breaks for medicine and peripheral equipment

Telangana government has requested the Union government to remove the tax on medicine and medical equipment manufactured in the country in order to provide relief to wholesale providers and citizens. The state has also asked to remove tax on imported medicine. 

READ: 212 Virus Containment Clusters Marked In Telangana

Tax relief

State Health Minister Eatala Rajender requested Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan to act upon the request and made a third request of providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) - gloves, masks, etc so as to ensure the safety of doctors and other health care workers.

On Friday, a total of 212 areas across Telangana covering over 4.50 lakh households have been marked as containment clusters or red zones. The cluster containment strategy would be to contain the disease within a defined geographic area by early detection of cases, breaking the chain of transmission and thus preventing its spread to new areas, the official of the health department said.

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As of today (April 10), we have identified 212 containment clusters in the state. We have already set up 130 clusters or red zones covering 3.37 lakh households. The remaining clusters covering 1.17 lakh households will be done in a day or two," the official told PTI.

READ: Telangana Govt Offers Relief To Farmers; Will Procure Their Produce Amid COVID Lockdown

Earlier this week, the state government decided to purchase the entire produce of the farmers in order to decrease the losses suffered amid Coronavirus lockdown. The announcement was made by the State Education Minister, Sabitha Indra Reddy, on Wednesday. CM Rao has announced that all grain crops will be procured directly from farmers, ensuring Minimum Support Price (MSP).

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The state government has set up 7,700 procurement centres across the state. These procurement centres were inaugurated by the ministers in their areas.